Fabian Knecht
Fabian Knecht (1980) lives and works in Berlin. Accustomed to extreme performances, the artist interacts here with the urban environment of Fukushima in 2021, almost twelve years after the second biggest nuclear disaster in human history. The unprecedented action we see him perform in his photo-novel-like instruction reminds us that, despite the evacuation of some 150,000 inhabitants, the city has retained the vestiges of a consumerist society whose remnants now seem to rival the surrounding grasses, which also appear to have resisted.
Fun Fact
Foraging animals divide their time between finding and eating food. The rewards of a given food type also influence their search and consumption: for example, a coconut is a greater reward than a few berries, but it takes longer to find and crack open than to find and pick a handful of berries. Although humans do not hunt and gather as much as their ancestors did, we behave similar nowadays. We are constantly making choices between ready-made food and food that requires a lot of preparation, available across town or on our doorstep, from halfway around the world or from the garden next door.
Call to Action
Half of the energy consumed in the world is used to heat our homes and other buildings. Some cities, including Paris, Stockholm and Bloomington in Minnesota, have started to heat buildings using human heat. A train station, a shopping center or a subway station are all places frequented by many people every day, generating significant heat. The energy savings are considerable, ranging from 15 to 36% in some cases. While waiting for this technology to be installed in your home, remember the actions that we can apply on a daily basis to reduce our consumption: moderate heating, reasonable use of hot water, reduction of drafts, thoughtful cooking methods.
Riddle
If it takes the performance of an Olympic cyclist to run a toaster, how much does it take to run a vending machine?
A) 1 cyclist
B) 5 cyclists
C) 10 cyclists, we'll have to share this protein bar
D) 25 cyclists, one seventh of the Tour de France
Instruction