Remember this post on rhubarb batteries? Well, according to radio show Studio 360, there’s no need to draw the line at rhubarb. Especially if you are creative, like photographer and artist Caleb Charland.
Julia Lowrie Henderson writes. “His series Back to Light is inspired by that old science class experiment: if you stick a galvanized nail in one end of a potato and a copper wire in the other, it will become a battery. Charland generates enough electricity from the fruit to power the lights that illuminate his shots. He uses long exposures to take these photographs, but nothing is added digitally to the images.
” ‘My practice as an artist combines a scientific curiosity with a constructive approach to making pictures,’ Charland says. ‘I utilize everyday objects and fundamental forces to illustrate experiences of wonder.’ ”
From the Artist’s Statement on his website: “The way we understand the world relies so much on our ability to measure it. Given that many measurements are based on the proportions of the human body it’s clear we measure stuff to find our place amongst it all and to connect with it in some way.
“By exploring the world at hand, from the basement to the backyard, I have found a resonance in things. An energy vibrates in that space between our perceptions of the world and the potential the mind senses for our interventions within the world. …
“For me, wonder is a state of mind somewhere between knowledge and uncertainty. It is the basis of my practice and results in images that are simultaneously familiar yet strange. Each piece begins as a question of visual possibilities and develops in tandem with the natural laws of the world.”
More here. Click through the pictures. To my mind, citrus makes especially appealing batteries.
Photo: Caleb Charland
Orange Battery, 2012
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