Gaia Stage – A low carbon performance stage

Liisa Tuomi & Dominik Schlienger Gaia Stage – A low carbon performance stage Gaia Stage A low carbon performance stage •Imagine you are a musician, actor, or public person and you want to address a large audience about climate change. By stepping onto the stage and grabbing a mic, you are actually adding to the problem. Performance stages are infrastructures with a large carbon footprint. So even if artists and performers would like to make a difference, the need for a performance infrastructure makes their work part of the problem they would like to help resolve.# •Alternatively, Gaia Stage is a zero-carbon performance stage for music and other performances. The first prototype we build will use generator bicycles as it's main power source — kinetic energy produced by the participating audience, additionally supported by locally sourced wind and solar power. Rather than using batteries as buffer storage, the energy is stored in a water-filled flywheel, which also provides a fantastic visual element. L Gaia Stage What’s in a name? “Gaia Stage” refers to a reading of James Lovelocks Gaia Hypotheses whereby our technical actions make or break the potentially resilient balance between all contributing actants.*# With Gaia Stage we intend to provide a voice to Gaia as a synonym for actors and activists who want to speak up for a sustainable future in a sustainable way.# * Bruno Latour and C. Porter, Facing Gaia: Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime. Wiley, 2017. D Description of the Gaia Stage prototype •Generator bikes and bike generator-stations# •Water-filled Flywheel# •Mechanical v. Electrical transfer# •Energy efficient amplification (E.g., distributed near-field speakers instead of large “speaker fronts” or line-arrays.) D Generator Bikes 2 commercially available models by “Rock the Bike” (USA) •Exercise-bike type Bike-Stand type D Water-filled Flywheel Revival of a centuries-old technology •Batteries are problematic in view of sustainability# •Flywheel technology stores kinetic energy as kinetic energy# •Using water as ballast, the empty shell can be transported with small impact. D Carbon Footprint of Performance stages •Carbon-footprint of audio power amplification marginal in comparison to transport of stage infrastructure and international air travel of performers and audiences# •Most festivals use carbon compensation schemes to label themselves “carbon neutral”. Compensation schemes by definition do not reduce net emissions.# •Latent greenwashing distracts from problematic: “Major initiatives”, like Coldplay’s to reduce carbon footprint of their tour ridiculed through use of private jets, for example. ( https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainmentarts-58898766 ) D Gaia Stage as Participative Action •Success of performance depends on participation: Interaction has to be upheld through encouragement –– If the audience participants stop pedalling, the energy runs out. This is visually enhanced due to the flywheel visibly slowing down in the process!# •Liminal situation due to dependence on participation: The performers will have to apply situated strategies to be able to perform. # •A playful narrative about limited resources and active participation becomes possible, raising awareness on the subject of sustainability. L