Public Interview: Oliver Walker & Stefan Taschner

About

Oliver Walker’s new project engages with energy production, innovation, and power structures. Walker created a rudimentary wave-powered generator during a residency at Bank Art in Yokohama, Japan, earlier this year and will continue developing the project while at Centrum. The artist’s idea is to further develop and improve this first prototype to enable him to produce enough energy to sell it into the market. Finally, Walker intends to use the money raised to pay a lobbyist working in energy policy, although the final form of this investment is still to be decided.

With its familiar inventiveness, the project is easy for viewers to engage with, joining the artist in learning how to make something new. However, this path to a brighter future is somehow cut short by the prospect of rather dry political lobbying, trying to buy the ear of politicians to affect political change. Although technological inventions are necessary, they are useless without the political will to implement them. Can a focus on (individual) technological solutions even be detrimental in avoiding the main issue at hand – fundamental political, democratic, and economic change?

The interview will primarily be in English.