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Artistic Electric Generator

Name: Maurizio Zelada
Location: São Paulo, Brasil
Organization: Cenotecnica Artes Tecnicas Ltda.
Overview: Art installation that uses an electric generator powered by humans

Tell us about this project and your process.: For the 26th edition of the Bienal de São Paulo (an international art exhibition), I was asked to realize an art installation honoring Cildo Meirelles, a well known Brazilian artist. That installation, named “Abajour” was made in two main parts. The first was a electric generator powered by four men who walk around a pole like in a colonial Brazilian mill, using human power to make sugar-cane syrup. Of course, instead of syrup, this mill produces electricity.

This electricity is transferred to the second component of the device where it moves motors to powers a large LED array. This motors turns three back-lighted cylinders (about four meters diameter). Two of them turn clockwise and the third counterclockwise. In these cylinders we had three printed images: the sea, a sail boat, and finally the sky.

The entire device was assembled around a large steel-frame pole with a diameter of one meter. All the work, from the first meeting with the artist to the final assembly in place take 35 days. It was my responsibility to develop and build all the hardware. I used SketchUp to model all the necessary parts and verify the assembly feasible. Often I realized that I made serious mistakes; SketchUp made these clear and I was able to avoid expensive and time-consuming paths prior to fabrication.

1 General View from below: lights on and running

Comments (1)

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johnnydeamer / 8 years ago

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