Have you ever considered the possibility of ART being a solution to several environmental problems? You might ask, “How can beautiful constructions and installations, or a lovely sculpture contribute to the energy issue?” or “What do art and science have in common?” AUD Assistant Professor of Visual Communications and Founder and Director of Society for Cultural Exchange Elizabeth Monoian, and husband Robert Ferry, a Dubai based architect, are probably best placed to provide you with answers, thanks to their unique concept: The UAE Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI).

Bringing together artists, architects, scientists and engineers, LAGI is a landmark initiative aiming at designing and constructing a series of land art installations across the UAE that uniquely combine aesthetic intrigue (power plants) with clean energy generation. These viewing platforms will attract tourists from around the world, inviting them to experience the beauty of the collaborative art creations in the UAE. Simultaneously, each land art sculpture will distribute clean energy continuously into the electrical grid, with the potential to provide power to thousands of homes in the UAE.

LAGI is working on the back of important continuous worldwide research that is being undertaken within focused disciplines on the specifics of harnessing natural sources of renewable energy. It takes this work an important step further to tackle the significant problem of implementation and broad public recognition. What is needed is a new collective frame of discourse that can stir the imaginations of the world, and this is exactly what Elizabeth, Robert, and hopefully, future participants endeavor to provide through the initiative. Because the large installations won’t be seen as power plants in the traditional sense of the word, but rather as aesthetic energy generating objects in the landscape that serve to broaden the minds of those who visit them, the consequent attraction value will serve as a ready-made marketing tool for supporting all types of similar initiatives toward a sustainable future.

The presentation of new concepts and designs will take the form of a two-year open competition where artists, scientists, engineers, and architects will be encouraged to submit ideas. At the conclusion of that period, the initiative will have pragmatic and comprehensive site/art proposals, ready for implementation and construction.

“Since the competition has yet to be held, we have come up with some provisional concepts in order to illustrate the idea. One of these that we most recently conceived for the Art Oasis show at Wafi Mall is the Ibn Al Haytham Pavilion for Mushrif Park in Dubai. The pavilion will serve as a source of beauty and inspiration for park-goers as well as a source of clean energy for the park. The power from the pavilion would reduce the external electrical demand load of the park by about 10%-20%,” says Elizabeth Monoian.

The couple has designed several other concepts such as the Korfakhan Necklace that has the potential to power approximately 15,000 households of the East coast city, and the Glacier Bay Projection, a renewable energy media sculpture visible 24 hours a day on Sheikh Zayed Road (route from Dubai to Abu Dhabi).

For more information, visit:

www.landartgenerator.org
www.hot-spots.net
www.societyforculturalexchange.org