Power 2

In October 2022 I was approached by Joe Bourne, a Creative Communications Research Fellow from Lancaster University, and Dr Ola Michalec, a social scientist based at University of Bristol. They were looking for artists to respond to research on the future of our energy provision and management as part of the Power 2 project from PETRAS.

This project was about generating artistic responses to research exploring human dimensions of digital energy transformation. In simpler terms, basically looking at how the current, and potential future, of energy generation and consumption makes us feel!

There was 4 potential briefs to work from, and I was very much drawn to the first, ‘The Home Control Room’ as it seemed to fit in nicely with my style of drawing. This brief involved exploring the potential reality of taking energy sourcing and usage into the hands of everyday consumers, with a hint at the likely issues that might arise with doing this. I choose to demonstrate this with a chaotic lounge in a hypothetical house share, a scene that is likely to resonate with most of us in some way or another.

In a world where we are all looking for more control on our energy… screens, dials, buttons and interfaces have crept into the home to such a degree that our homes have started to look more like power station control rooms than living spaces. Neglected houseplants compete for attention with smart energy displays; dirty dishes obscure warning lights and the renters’ different approaches to home-labour show through their relationships with these technologies.

The image above shows my final illustration response to the brief. This final Illustration was then printed into A0 and displayed at the ‘Electric Feels’ event, where myself, the other commissioned artists, and the researchers of the project were able to showcase our work and discuss it with members of the public.

The first event took place on Friday 9th June, hosted in Cafe Kino on Stokes Croft. The second, at the Digital Design Weekend in The V&A during the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of September. The third and final was at the FUTURES festival of public engagement in Bristol on the 29th September, hosted in SS Great Britain ship in Bristol!

It was such an amazing experience to be involved in, huge thank you to PETRAS for making it possible. For more info on the project, visit: https://petras-iot.org/update/electric-feels/