MISKA KNAPEK: ENERGY FAME

The central theme of the "Energy fame" light sculpture, is our energy consumption and how we would act if our energy usage was as apparent as our other attributes. For the greater part, our consumption is visible in our appearance, by how we look, what we carry, what we have. But our energy consumption is not neccessarily similarly visible.

Sometimes we gain respect, even fame, for our consumption. But what about energy consumption? What kind of fame would that be? The "Energy fame" artwork experiments with this thought. Installed in a public space, people's energy consumption is painted with light - in a non-intrusive way - onto people, turning them into representations of their energy use, as citizens of Finland. As people pass by they become a spectacle of light and energy consumption.

There are a few ways this installation can be varied, but the following is its basic version.

The installation is made of three light projections. One from the side onto participants, one from above onto the ground participants share, and one onto a large nearby wall or building. Together they paint the individual and collective energy use, as it happens.

The projection of white light from the side - in non-intrusive way - uses the height of a given participant to show, relative to their height, how much energy they consume versus how much is sustainable to consume. The illuminated part of the body symbolises the amount of energy they consume now, and the dark part represents the energy amount that's sustainable for a person to consume. If the illuminated area is the same size as the dark - sustainable - area , it means the person consumes a sustainable amount of energy. If the illuminated part is larger than the dark one, as is typical, it means the person consumes more energy than is sustainable. Whilst people's energy consumption is thus shown and embodied by people, they also visually turn into candles, as in a way they are, as energy consumers.

The projection from above deposits "energy bits/particles" on the ground, where people have walked. Each particle represents a certain statistically important amount of energy, so people can quantitatily see the energy they consume, as it happens. The speed at which the particles appear behind people depends on how much people, on average during the day, consume energy. A person with a higher rate of energy consumption will have more energy particles left behind them as they walk, than a peron of lower energy apetite. The particles are coloured red, blue and yellow, representing respectively, the heating, cooling, and eletrical energy people use, which are consumed at different speeds. As many people cross the ground of the installation, the collective energy use quite literally grows visually apparent.

Lastly, a projection onto a nearby large surface - a wall or building - grants participants fifteen seconds of "energy fame". Every fifteen seconds a participant is selected by a computer system, and, their profile is enlarged and projected onto a large nearby surface. Their energy consumption becomes famous as their enlarged profile is filled with red, blue and yellow colour areas, representing the amount of heating, cooling and electrical energy they consume. As in the projection from the side, a part of their profile, as with the side projection, will remain dark, representing the amount of energy that's sustainable to consume, in contrast to the illuminated areas. Additional statistical information about the energy usage of the participant will also be shown on the large display. After fifteen seconds, another participant is selected for fifteen seconds of "energy fame".

The kinds of energy use "personality types" that are projected onto people are a reflection of the Finnish population, rather than the illuminated participant in particular. Different kinds of energy use "stereotypes" will be selected statistically, and will be assigned onto participants according to how often these "stereotypes" occur in the population, so the participants together will make up a statistical representation of energy use in Finland.

In the end it is not important that a participant is painted with someone other citizen's energy consumption profile, as it is as a whole we assume the consequences of everyone's energy consumption, even though we make individual efforts.