Lecture 'To Shell or not to Shell?' by Peter Fend

'Geopolitically, fighting in Afghanistan is about fossil-fuel flows from Central Asia to the world. But geophysically, one sees the context to be inward-draining sea basins. These basins can be "studied" as modeled in a skatepark. They can also become sources of local energy, from renewable sources: direct solar (of course), run-of-the-river waterwheels, up high, and massive harvests of waterplants (e.g., Elodea) to yield.. local, renewable, zero-emissions methane gas. Why fight over fossils?  Afghanistan, with Iran, mostly drains inward. Therein, one can catch fast-flow water energy with waterwheels, and can produce zero-emissions fuel by fermenting the huge amounts of waterplants that absorb the inflowing nutrients. Soldiers can set up "local energy production."

Peter Fend is one of the co-founders of Ocean Earth Construction and Development Corporation. The aim of the Ocean Earth is research on alternative energy sources. They use satellite imaging to monitor and analyze global ecological and geopolitical hot-spots, largely for media clients. Considering the world a living earthwork, ecological aspects are linked to and interconnected with artistic aspects. Ocean Earth was conceived as an instrument for implementing the goals of the environmental art movement, directly building upon the ideas of artists such as Joseph Beuys, Robert Smithson and Gordon Matta-Clark. Through inter-disciplinary collaborations and by connecting ecological imperatives with experimental new technologies, Fend asks ‘How far can art go?’ in drawing attention to a belief that artistic research can generate productive dialogue about global ecological problems and that it can be used to develop effective solutions.