Jamie Cross, University of Edinburgh;
Alice Street, University of Edinburgh
Jennifer Littlejohn, independent artist

Denver 2015: Design and Planning

What kinds of social, technical and political relationships make it possible to live off the grid in global contexts of wealth and poverty? This exhibit presents a portfolio of graphic art pieces, installations, story maps and technological designs that explore off grid energy infrastructures as relational: with the social built into the material and the material a complex of historic interactions and exchanges. The pieces presented here are based on ethnographic research in Scotland, India and Papua New Guinea and art-science collaborations with community groups, graphic designers, illustrators and computer programmers. The project aimed to transform modes of academic engagement by working to visualise and visually communicate the relational qualities of off grid infrastructures beyond the academy, making perspectives from science/technology studies powerful, accessible and relevant to research participants and wider publics.