RIXC / Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits, Martins Ratniks
RENEW-ABILITY. Investigating the Dynamics of Art and the Renewable Energy Network, 2011
Net-Based InstallationThe project RENEW‐ABILITY is a research tool and interactive visualization of Renewable Network dynamics. It maps artistic and social projects that explore the intersection between information networks and alternative energy systems from the perspective of sustainability.
Information and energy were key facets of human existence in the twentieth century. In the twenty-first century they will become even more important. Smart devices and an energy internet, as well as clean and renewable energy resources, ecological design and alternative production methods, interdisciplinary collaboration and open-source approaches are just a few of the broad potential quests that could change the future landscape of sustainability. Together with scientists and researchers, artists are among the innovators seeking alternative solutions to these issues. For a number of years now, the collective RIXC has worked on these topics and initiated a series of workshop events, exhibitions, and collaboration projects, a result of which was the recent launching of a new Baltic-Nordic cooperation platform—the Network for Art and Renewable Energy Technologies, or Renewable Network.
The Renewable Network interface is designed to make these artistic interventions visible to a wider public and to encourage collaborative research for the further mapping of projects, people, and ecological strategies toward a sustainable future. The project draws on the potential of joint and collaborative action in a globally networked society.
