Homo Colossus
From Homo Sapiens to Homo Colossus: Visualising our energy footprint
This science + art + communications project aims to convey an understanding, both public and personal, of the energy footprint of Swedes through an open-air augmented reality art installation/exhibition in Stockholm (2022).
The art installation will convey the concept of typical Swedes’ energy footprints through a thought experiment. The starting point is that the bigger you are, the more you need to eat. But what if we included not just calories from the food we eat, but all the energy we “consume” in our daily lives, such as the fuel that powers our vehicles, the hot water that heats our homes and the electricity that illuminates our cities and powers the Internet? How big would we be? The answer is that the average Swede would weigh 30 000 Kilos, or four times more than the largest elephant!
The idea of us being as big as our energy footprint is called Homo Colossus. The project aims to convey itthis idea through art, augmented reality, and a museum exhibit and by interactively visualising the energy size of Swedes from all walks of life; from the poor single mother who struggles to make ends meet to the executive who flies several times per week. What do we look like through the lens of our energy footprints? We invite curious minds of all ages to explore this question through our public, interactive, artistic, technical installations.
Team
Changency
Konstfrämjandet/The People's Movements for Art Promotion
Funding
Formas