“SURGE” Art/Energy-Use Project at Babson College through May 20, 2014

SURGE: Creative Imaginings of Energy Use by Prospectus artist Deb Todd Wheeler in collaboration with sound artist Maurice Methot was on view in the Hollister Gallery, Babson College, 231 Forest Avenue, Wellesley, MA, through May 20, 2014. SURGE is an experimental two-hour audioscape and installation that translates Babson College’s campus energy usage from June 2011 – June 2012 into sound. Taking the kilowatt-hour readings for an entire year from five buildings on campus, SURGE presents a space for listening to the patterns of campus life via the kilowatt hour. Methot, who teaches at Emerson College, wrote a series of codes to experiment with ways “to hear” the numerical information, working with synthesized sounds and tempos.

SURGE is part of the Chromatic Energy Mirror  Prospectus project, which aims “to turn the cold numbers of energy usage into musical scores that reflect the patterns of daily campus living,” according to Wheeler, and Babson College has been the second test site for the project (Brandeis University was the first).  “How much do we know about energy use?  Could aesthetic interpretations of energy consumption data transform our habitual indifference to energy use and place us into a creative space for energy awareness and education? The aim is to create a deep and instinctive awareness of our energy grids, with the hope that one day energy awareness will become as common as awareness of weather patterns  – we’ll sense when there is a strain on the grid in the same way we know when it might rain.”

This version of the Chromatic Energy Mirror Prospectus project was realized in collaboration with the Babson College Facilities and Art Departments, David Teng and students from Wellesley College’s Digital Media class, Robert Todd and Pat Todd, who contributed their creative talents.