Steven Pippin (UK, 1960)
Residency period: January – March 2021
The project at La Becque consisted of an aerodynamic idea derived from another project and incorporating an inflated turbine blade surrounded by an outer accretion disc covered with gold plated copper contacts.
These contacts were placed as close to the turbine blade as possible but without touching. As the wind blows upon the turbine blade it creates friction and thus static is formed. The idea of the machine was to allow the static charge to dissipate via the gold contacts and back to earth, and in so doing generate a small push, allowing the blade to turn faster than it normally would. This in turn would create more energy for wind turbines, and so more efficiently utilise the winds natural force.
The experiments proved to be inconclusive, I believe this was due to the wind speed being too slow and my equipment not accurate enough and so it is a project still ongoing , working within the mind.
However it has led to another experiment which I’m now conducting and one that relies less on electronics and more on the physical manifestation of matter as it comes into contact with the rapidly moving turbine blade. I have concrete evidence of this process and now the experiment consists of how to harness this effect so that the turbine blade effectively designs or creates its own ideal form by slowly ‘growing’ over a period of time (in this case some months or perhaps a year). The first experiment is a small 60cm enclosed windtunnel using fine dust to grow the form.
Steven lives and works in south London. He is known for his sculptural interventions and his photographic work, stemming from the 1997 work Laundromat-Locomotion (Walking in Suit) which was the culmination of a ten year period focused on adapting different objects as photo cameras. Over the last twenty years he has delved deeper into understanding the mechanics of our world, pursuing function over form and focusing on the world we inhabit, adjusting and re-appraising everyday objects and machines, taking them to the limit of philosophical comprehension. The proposal for his work at La Becque surpasses considerations on aesthetic value, centring around the idea of optimising how we harness natural energy, with the lightest of touches and the maximum of efficiency. His work is present in the world’s major art collections, from Tate in the UK to the MoMA, NYC. He has
exhibited at Basel Unlimited and was the first Artist in Residence at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research Germany.