Here’s a great show for all DIY enthusiasts, optimists, and those with an independent spirit: Domic Gagnon‘s exhibit Fasten Your Seatbelts For The Biggest Car Innovation Of The Year at the Centre des arts actuels SKOL

The idea for this project came to Gagnon when he was trying to edit video while living off the grid in his cabin in the woods. Intrepid artist that he is, he turned his old Nissan Sentra into a vertical wind turbine, producing enough energy to power any small appliance: a Macintosh laptop, a video camera, or more utilitarian items such as lights, radio or a TV. This experimental DIY project turned into an art installation and video projection, now on show at Skol. You can admire the wind turbine in action, pick up a pamphlet with instructions on how you, too, can transform your car from something that consumes energy into something that produces energy, and there’s even an instructional video (also availabe on YouTube here.) I like how the turbine betrays elements of its previous life: the seat belts connect sheets of metal to the turbine’s central axis, which in turn is constructed using the car’s wheels – including the tires. Maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing thing I’ve ever seen, but given its planet-saving powers I’m happy to overlook that minor detail.

Centre des arts actuels SKOL
space 314
Domic Gagnon
Fasten Your Seatbelts For The Biggest Car Innovation Of The Year
exhibition period: September 5 – October 11, 2008
www.skol.ca