This project emerged from a gap in my practice. While working extensively with metal and construction, I realised I lacked an understanding of kinetics and energy transfer despite over the last years working conceptually with the socio-political aspect of energy production.

Over the past year, I have developed a pedal-powered table inspired by early sewing machines. Instead of stitching, it converts human effort into electrical energy, which is stored and used to produce new work. At this stage, the system powers the making of small wooden tools, with the long-term aim of producing a small silver coin using only self-generated energy.

Rather than using off-the-shelf components, I approached the project as a process of learning through making. In collaboration with Pim, an artist trained in precision machining, I fabricated the system through ongoing trial and error, where failure and adjustment became central to the work.

Situated within my broader practice, the project reflects on the socio-political and geopolitical dimensions of energy production, particularly in relation to green transition narratives. By making energy generation tangible, slow, and physically demanding, the work contrasts with the apparent immateriality of large-scale “sustainable” infrastructures, raising questions around labour, scale, and responsibility.

Process photos/ Prototype development