Photo-synthesis
Techno-botanical Installation

Photo-synthesis is a true convergence of art and technology. David’s photography was chosen as the “face” of a new solar panel technology developed by Compáz, a collective of scientists and artists. David’s photography was printed on sheets of ceramic. These sheets were then applied to solar panels, resulting in two 5㎡ triptychs of three panels each. The printed image is opaque to the human eye, but allows the solar energy to reach its substrate. Both pieces were displayed in Beijing in October 2019 for the 5th International Art and Science Symposium and Exhibition (TASIES 2019) organized by Tsinghua University. The first triptych was installed at the prestigious National Museum of China on Tiananmen Square. The second one, at the heart of the 798 Art District. The project was supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in China, Beijing and Swissnex.

Spooky Action at a Distance

Albert Einstein colorfully dismissed quantum entanglement—the ability of separated objects to share a condition or state—as “spooky action at a distance.” A little creative license allows us to imagine the current electrical grid and its extremities—the producers and consumers of electricity—as entangled entities. As each electron moves uniformly through the said grid, it pushes on the one ahead of it, such that all the electrons move together as a group. The electric grid as we know it is a continuous flow that demands simultaneous parity inversion between the aforementioned producers and consumers in order to exist.

By no fault of their own, photovoltaic systems are limited in their potential by the grid’s current inability to store energy on a large scale. Plants on the other hand have found a way around that limitation: converting the sun’s energy into chemical energy—carbohydrates— that can be stored and later released as fuel.

David proposes that culture—the set of knowledge acquired over time—is a form of stored energy. To grow this human capital we need a continuous flow of physical energy or else risk stagnation, or worse, depletion. Art—as an expression of culture—has always found inspiration in the plant world. Techno-botaniques are synergetic systems. Their are the amalgam of energy production and human knowledge expressed through the artful depiction of plants, not as ornaments, but as symbolic how-to manuals. Techno-botaniques take René Magritte’s famous quote “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” one step further with installations that are both physical and representational. They exist in two states at the same time.

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