A recent New York Times article, entitled “Finding Art in Energy in the United Arab Emirates” describes a project, the Land Art Generator Initiative conceived by the New York based Atelier DNA, that works at producing large-scale art presentations which doubly serve as clean energy generators.
“Its aim is to help participants to develop and ultimately attract investment to construct power-generating plants that are aesthetically and functionally integrated into the landscape.”
This article did not specifically appear in the Times Arts section, but it certainly has a lot to do with art and our perception of art. Often, we discuss “art for the sake of art”. It is a form of expression, but it need not hold any greater purpose.
The art of this project, though, certainly does have a higher purpose. Alternative energy is a huge topic of modern discussion, and is vital that we limit our dependence on non-renewable energy resources as much as possible.
Projects like the Land Art Generator Initiative show that art and alternative energy need not be two distinct fields, and I think this project is a great one.
This is the age old question: should form follow function? If something functions well, it should be beautiful to look at, right? Not always, but it is a noble goal. A wind turbine (or 5,000 wind turbines) could be a beautiful site, and one would certainly appreciate that the designers might have considered what they would look like on the landscape as they performed their function, but it does not automatically follow that a beautiful landscape of lovely wind turbines is more beautiful than a lovely natural landscape. (Even the most desolate and arid landscapes have a natural beauty.) Sometimes the “beauty” of technology is a kind of slight of hand to deflect attention from some less than beautiful aspect. (Like the poorly disguised “tree covered” cell towers that don’t fool anyone.)