Publisher: Common Ground Publishing
E-ISSN: 1835-2022|6|1|145-157
ISSN: 1835-2014
Source: The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, Vol.6, Iss.1, 2013-01, pp. : 145-157
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
The "Light is History" installation is part of an ongoing doctoral research project about building a sustainable framework for heritage institutions and their user communities in Helsinki Finland. This installation serves as a research object that investigates community participation, energy use, and new media approaches in the public display of energy artifacts from contemporary Nordic material culture. It also engages citizens and participants with the issues of community well being and the future of collective energy use in daily living.Sixteen participating families from the Kallio neighborhood of Helsinki were interviewed during this installation project to understand and analyze their energy footprints in their homes. The interviews documented their living spaces, the energy artifacts they used, and the associated well-being. Images and narratives of these artifacts from their daily lives were collected from them to be displayed on the installation. During November 2012, the families were requested to save their energy consumption and publish their daily energy use for one week onto the project web portal. The savings data was used to determine the brightness of the individual therapy lamps and to light the artifact displays. The collective installation was unveiled in a busy public place: the Hakaniemi Market Square of Helsinki from 25th November to 1st of December.The installation demonstrated that community members are willing to display their personal artifacts in the public place and share their energy use for the common well-being. New media technologies and participatory action can help bridge the private to the public, the individual to the collective, and exhibit the community's material culture and energy needs. The project also established that a shared and collaborative installation space that mimics a museum can be created outside the museum walls that is open-sourced, sustainable, and participatory.
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