PHOEF – The Undisclosed Poesis of the Photovoltaic Effect

Abstract

Grid independence, silent electrical energy generation without emissions, harmless low-DC power, mobility and new materials with new aesthetics are key characteristics of photovoltaic technologies. Together with new scientific tropes that are emerging in this highly vibrant multidisciplinary field, they have attracted a first generation of “early adapters” in the arts. It allows for further dynamic exploration of the complex relation between light, electrical energy and the media that can be used to represent it. In their turn, these explorations generate new artistic tropes originating from unexpected set-ups, combinations of materials and contexts of employment that might lead to new scientific questions possibly benefitting the improvement of PV-technologies. Moreover, in the current reshaping of the organisation of access to energy, the arts can and should play an active and critical role.