Biofuel cell
-> Circulatory or cause-and-effect system
-> Fictional company’s green campaign


DC motors generate wind with propellers that blow paper. A sensor catches the paper and causes other DC motors to move the green plastics. Although my intention for this work differs from the proverb, the movement generated by DC motors overlaps the storyline of my fictional company.

Statement of my fictional company:
Our company aims to enable society to live with electricity generated by microbes in the soil. We will no longer need to build enormous plants to generate electricity. Our new friend, microbes, will help us resolve our energy and environmental problems. We have decided to invest in this new project, requiring over fifty years of annual budgets.

However, the company cannot collect enough energy from microbes with today’s technologies compared to other energy resources such as fossil fuels. Therefore, it has no choice but to use conventional energy resources. The company has set green energy with microbes as a long-term project. In advance of their service of microbe green energy, they have decided to promote a branding campaign filled with green colours since they have already invested a large amount of money in future green technology.

In my installation, biofuel cells represent the green energy company, and seven DC motors with propellers on transparent acrylic sheets represent the conventional power plants. As the revenue from energy sales boosts the green branding campaign, the sensor from the ceiling catches the paper's movement caused by propeller wind and forces the three DC motors to move the green plastic products.

Photo by Mia Tohver