Wasabii Ng – Inefficiency Machines (Eng)

Energy efficient devices seem to offer a convenient solution to the scarcity of resources. However the search for convenience and energy efficiency has also led to a loss of knowledge: we don’t understand anymore how things work.

In this presentation Wasabii will present her graduation thesis during her time at the Royal College of Art in London.

A series of interactive objects place the user within processes usually hidden behind a switch. Magnified objects reverse Moore’s law of accelerated miniaturisation.

Participants perform repetitive exaggerated bodily movements to understand the bodily effort necessary to power something taken for granted like a lightbulb. This reflects Jevon’s paradox “As energy efficiency goes up, using energy consuming products becomes less expensive, which in turn leads us to consume more energy”.

Wasabii Ng is researcher at the research group Biobased Art and Design from Caradt.