From Dimensions of Electricity

Most academic research projects end up collecting dust in library stacks. Dimensions of Electricity, however, brings science to the IDEAL Artspace. With five elaborate models and a photography exhibit, the installation viscerally explores the different ways to satisfy Calgary’s electrical demand.

“The project started with research into the feasibility of nuclear energy in Alberta,” says Ola Kowalewski, who is completing her undergraduate degree in environmental science at the University of Calgary. “But then, as I compared the different electrical energy sources, I noticed a lack of big-picture understanding of the different options.”

Over the summer, Kowalewski has studied five different electrical sources — coal, natural gas, solar, wind and nuclear. “My basic unit for comparison was Calgary’s electrical demand for one year,” she says. “We’ve created a model for each energy source, physically displaying it based on the space it would require.”

One such model, representing wind power, is an enormous field covered with 1,350 windmills built with chopsticks and the propellers from model planes. “The basic notion is preserved, with respect to the research,” says Kowalewski, “but there’s room for a lot of visual playfulness when it comes to creating the landscape.” The model for coal was computer-designed, then dozens of acrylic and wood layers were cut with a laser printer to create a three-dimensional, topographic coal pit, complete with a cooling pond and generation facility. “Each layer emits light — it almost looks like a spaceship,” Kowalewski laughs. “It’s a total juxtaposition, looking at this very old technology and asking, ‘Do we want coal to be our future?’”

While the project has a strong potential for social commentary, Kowalewski emphasizes that it’s meant to assist analytical thinking, not make a political point. “I’m trying to synthesize complex issues into something you can compare and contrast,” she says. “The integrity of the data was foremost for me. Once you have good numbers, they speak for themselves.” Her choice to display the research in a visual art setting is an attempt to escape the flatland of academia. “In academia, you’re completely inundated with non-stop reports,” she says. “There’s something priceless about engaging the senses, and encouraging deeper reflection.”

While Dimensions of Electricity pushes the boundaries of scientific discourse, it comes with some serious scientific street cred: it received funding from the University of Calgary’s Office of Sustainability and the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and a digital model of each sculpture was created by Jordan Palmer.

A final element of the installation is a series of photographs by Jordan Dozzi-Perry, covering the walls. “The photographs are all related to the models,” says Kowalewski. “They capture the reality of housing and construction in Calgary, and the waste they produce, and there are also a lot of photos of the natural landscape. Every time we need electricity, we’re using up our natural capital.”

Dimensions of Electricity opens on Friday, August 29 at the IDEAL Artspace (202 17th Ave. S.W.) with a DJ-ed launch party from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., and it will remain on display for a week. The installation will then move to the University of Calgary for a display in the MacEwan Student Centre, in mid-October.

“Calgary is a resource mecca,” says Kowalewski, “and I hope this project will appeal to a broad audience. I would love to share it with people from the energy industry, government and academia. Anyone can look at it and take something away, whether positive or negative. It’s about opening the channels of communication, and starting to talk about the realities of electricity.”