Alternator

12-hour Performance, October 4, 2008, Nuit Blanche, Toronto.
Performance, September 2009, ArtCity Festival, Calgary.
Performance, 2009, Art in the Streets Festival, Lethbridge.
Performance, May 2012, Oh Canada! MassMoCA, Boston.

During the performance, I search for oil under every oil leak and oil stain that I find in a parking lot. I erected miniature oil rigs on the stains that I found and tried to extract oil from them. In the back of my car skeleton, I had an empty 45-gallon oil drum and I attempted to fill it from the oil that has leaked out of cars.

I generated electricity to operate the oil pumps by using a hand-cranked generator that was built into the steering wheel of the car. When the steering wheel was turned it generated electricity to operate the miniaturized oil pumps. The generator produced enough power to operate the DC motors on the oil pumps.

There was a sound piece that accompanied the performance. It was a mix of car and traffic sounds and oil pump sounds and It referenced the tension and noise of traffic and create a connection to the site itself.

Technical Assistance: Robyn Moody.

Installation Assistance: Trevor Mercer, Ian Ward, Alex Moon.

Audio: Richard Brown