Gnawing Fields (2019)
(Battery composed of earth, water and anaerobic bacteria; aluminium; nema23 stepper motors; wire; Arduino)
1000mm x 360mm x 600mm

Gnawing Fields is a robotic installation that uses an emerging technology called microbial fuel cells (MFCs) — batteries made from mud, water and anaerobic bacteria — to create low voltages that trigger a steel-jaw trap to open and close. Using mud collected from Herdsman Lake as the agent which controls the trap, Gnawing Fields subverts the passive role typically given to the natural elements, often seen only as a resource to be exploited. In light of the increasing number of natural disasters around the world, this work presents viewers with a speculative allegory about the changing relations between humans and our environment.

exhibition:

2019 The Lobby, Perth, AU.