For this work I created a hydroelectric generator out of an LG washing machine, replacing the wash basket with a Pelton wheel and rewiring the direct drive motor to function as a generator. I also created a modular synthesizer. For both      sculptures I followed online plans and directions, mostly from YouTube. I then took the sculptures into a wilderness clear-cut on a steep hillside. I linked the generator to a creek with a long hose to build water pressure that drove the generator      and produced electricity. This powered the synthesizer, a PA, and LED lights. I performed a music and light show, creating an audio composition on the synthesizer that the LED lights reacted to, resulting in an off-grid visual show.

The entire process was documented with a POV camera worn on my head. The resulting video was edited into a series of “how-to” videos uploaded to YouTube, allowing anyone to recreate the work.

How to Make an Off-grid Hydroelectric Light Show asks questions about the relevance of galleries or museums in an age of democratically produced and disseminated culture via media. It proposes a possible solution through the display and preservation of the artifacts of such      contemporary production. It also points to the ways in which potentially utopian solutions such as clean energy production can be co-opted as advertising clickbait via social media platforms, reinforcing the very structures they claim to     challenge.