PhoEf – Photons and the Electric Kiss

PhoEf is a research project led by Bart Vandeput, exploring the essence, use and abuse of the photovoltaic effect - the conversion of light into electrical energy - within the realms of science, industry, technology and the arts. As photovoltaics illustrate the interwovenness of matter and mankind, with the elements and the cosmos, it promises to trigger a deeper understanding of the qualities, origins and movements of light. Of the Sun. PhoEf provides both sky and earthbound information, sometimes structured alongside linear vertical paths, only to make an abrupt stop. Finding junctions between intuitive text and the flowing of new (inter)connections in an attempt to reach, inspire and connect researchers, developers and artists.

As light is the primary source of energy in photovoltaics, these technologies are subject to the schizophrenia of the photon’s behaviour as both a wave and particle, their multiplicities; healthy to dangerous, subtle to aggressive, absent to abundant and from invisible to tangible. Might it lead to just enough energy for an electric kiss, or to the rise of one of the Buddhas, perhaps even to the deepening of our understanding of electricity.

• http://www.subtletechnologies.com/2008/?page_id=208