THERMOPOWER

(2019-2021)

11:47m, HD video, color, sound

Thermopower explores the biological concept of thermoregulation across the practices of mammals and machines. It introduces the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a small mountainous relative of rabbits and indicator species for the climate crisis, as a frame through which to articulate how thermoregulation affects and is affected by human animals, nonhuman animals, and human-designed technologies like internet data centers.

The research-driven film repurposes a steerable, networked research camera called TundraCam, typically used by scientists to study the alpine tundra. Commingling creative, scientific, and technological approaches, it animates a conversation on the role of technology in both the maintenance and loss of livable temperatures.

Supported by:

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts
Redline Contemporary Art Center
Nature, Environment, Science, Technology Studio for the Arts (NEST)

Screenings & Exhibitions:

FEELERS: Towards Reciprocal Sensing, Fulcrum Festival, Los Angeles, CA (2022)
The Other Art Fair, Saatchi, Los Angeles, CA (2021)
Labocine by Imagine Science Films, Online (2020)
Nature Club, Femmebit, Online (2020)
4S Making & Doing, New Orleans, LA (2019)
Multispecies Storytelling, Växjö, Sweden (2019)

Notes:
Thermopower is the result of field and lab research conducted with Ashley Whipple, a biologist studying American pika stress.

_{Documentation photos by Ian Byers Gambel}