Petroc Sesti Studio and Conservation

Slare Powered

SOLAR | RELAY

Manifesta 13 Marseille 2020

Solar Relay is an installation that both portrays and engages the energy and sound of the Sun. The piece displays and is powered by sunlight. ‘The body of water beneath both reflects and liquifies the image. This is synchronised to the sound of the sun which has been extrapolated from scientific recordings creating a fully immersive experience. The reflection of this heavenly body in water is a metaphor for our fragile chemically altered biosphere beneath the Suns ceaseless activity.After collaborating with solar scientists for over 15 years, Petroc Sesti releases his most recent Solar installation where photovoltaic panels and space telescopes are both employed to capture light and power an artwork free of the terrestrial power grid. Only when sufficient energy levels are achieved the Solar Relay edit is activated, projecting footage in intermittent sequences.

Platform Earth

Engagement in ecological activism, conservation and philanthropy have always been part of his life and increasingly at the core of his practice. He recently founded Platform Earth, an arts and environment organisation bringing artists, scientists and change-makers together to address the art industry’s carbon emissions.

“Both the arts and sciences agree on the fact that never before in our history has there been a moment where the environment has mattered so much. I believe artists have a unique ability to communicate this to the public and tell a story of how Climate Change is affecting the planet by producing awe-inspiring artworks.”

www.platformearth.org

Petroc Sesti has always been drawn to wildlife and to the plight of the Rainforests and the Oceans. He conceived of and co-founded Platform Earth with Mollie Dent Brocklehurst in 2017, a cultural program that unites arts and sciences to address issues related to Climate Change. Platform Earth is a start-up, non-profit organisation that supports and raises money for urgent, carefully selected, frontline ecological projects through a curated cultural program. The goal of the NGO is to commission artworks born out of a collaboration between artists and scientists and thus raising public awareness by linking the heart of our Cities to the sublime wonders of our biosphere.

What inspired the program was his first active collaboration with scientists in the Sumatra rainforest, as he sought to address issues related to deforestation in his artwork. This meeting of minds between art and science was the driving force behind the idea for the charity. He believes that what links the arts and sciences is a shared interest in the natural world and the technological means to study it. He believes that what sets artists and scientists apart is how we communicate the data. This shared use of technology is ushering us into a new golden age where art and science both serve to enrich culture and society. Artists serve as the ideal conduits for this information , elevating it and bringing to a broader public.

“It’s time for everyone to play their part in an active way. A complacent understanding of the problem is not enough, it is time for us all to be actively involved in the solution and our movement should do more. It’s important to act now.”

TREE BEACON

The first project in our program is Petroc Sesti’s Tree Beacon, a sculpture created from laser scans of an iconic rainforest buttress tree in Sumatra, Indonesia. To make the piece he collaborated with scientists using a laser scanning technology that quantifies the amount of carbon locked in the complex system of the rainforest. 

Tree Beacon was launched in support of the World Land Trust on their 30th anniversary celebration in London, attended by their patron Sir David Attenborough.

https://www.lux-mag.com/petroc-sesti/