Lexicon for an Anthropocene Yet Unseen is a series published on the Cultural Anthropology journal website. It is a collection of short articles that asks, “What would it take, we wonder, to see this time and its configurations, agencies, and effects otherwise? With this lexicon we hope to develop a resource that is helpful for…
In March, the UK National Infrastructure Commission released a report on how the electricity grid needs to change in order to keep the lights on, and meet the 2050 targets to reduce carbon emissions by 80%. The report is called ‘Smart Power‘. It proposes 3 changes to the grid: increased interconnection with other countries; actively…
“This is how I was born, how my creator, Victor Frankenstein, sparked me into energetic life…” So began my performance-paper at 4S 2015 (Society for Social Studies of Science) and AAA 2015 (American Anthropological Association) in Denver. I performed a character who haunts the islands of Orkney, abandoned out of hubris after her creation by…
Ebban an’ flowan is the world’s first poetic primer on marine renewable energy. The book focuses on the Orkney islands, as the leading international test site for this nascent energy industry, and expands to reflect on its relationship with the Nordic countries across the sea. Through both language and technology, the book explores how use…
Free to download. A collection of seven cards demonstrating the invisible work ongoing at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), in the Orkney islands, Scotland – the world’s first grid-connected test site for wave energy and tide energy – and the place where I have been working since 2003. Seasmith, Prophet, Transducer, Storyteller, Beacon, Selkie:…
Alien Energy (funded as Marine Renewable Energy as Alien: Social Studies of an Emerging Industry) was a research project at the IT University of Copenhagen, where I worked along with Brit Ross Winthereik and James Maguire. We were interested in the role of local people and places in the marine energy industry in Denmark and…
There is a long archaeology of futures in the mobile telecoms industry, futures that have appeared with much fanfare, been forgotten, and then resurrected once more. The ‘watchphone’ (recently popularised by the Apple Watch) is perhaps the most recent example of a walking dead future, with a history and archaeology from decades past. There are…
This book chapter began as a performance keynote at 4S/EASST 2012 annual conference in Copenhagen. Lucy Suchman, Pelle Ehn, and myself were asked to consider the conference theme ‘Design and Displacement: Social Studies of Science and Technology’ and how that might be situated in different places around the world. (Inspired by the Orkney Mailboats project).…
The ‘Energy Walk’ is an ethnographic installation in the landscape. It weaves together the sand dunes and harbour seascape of the Danish Wave Energy Center, in Hanstholm, Denmark, with other landscapes at the energy edge: marine energy in Orkney islands, Scotland, and geothermal energy in Iceland. Over a 40 minute journey it offers you stories,…
We exist in a society within which ‘life on the move’ is increasingly common, and supported by a growing array of mobile information and communication technologies. The research aimed to develop an understanding of travel-time use and explore ways in which public transport providers and passengers can benefit from this. This was an academic research…