MEPDubravko Kuhta Tesla (HR)

installation, 2011

The work is based on the idea of renewable energy sources, that is, the energy that we take (more or less accidentally) from our environment. Unlike wind power or solar energy, which can be used only if there are favorable conditions (of course, with a previously prepared technical platform), the energy supplied byMEP is almost always available. The only limit to the production of energy can be set by the owner of MEP, his physical stamina and willingness to invest his own labor in energy production.

MEP could be divided into two main parts: one for energy production and one for energy consumption. Energy is generated by a park bench made of wooden planks laid on concrete pillars. A circuit is set up on the sitting part of the bench consisting of a pedal, transmission, and generators. To make the generating process as comfortable as possible, the user is enabled to turn the pedals in a recumbent position, and for this purpose, a cushion is placed on the bench opposite the mechanism. This part also includes some “appropriate” literature (secured with a Kensington slot and a rope) on the subject of renewable energy sources. The energy consumption section consists of two parts: a regulating circuit connection for charging mobile phones and a circuit with a night lamp that allows the full use of MEP even during the night.

Approximate values of using MEP:
- reading during the day - no need to pedal, no energy production
- reading during the night - it is necessary to pedal the whole time one is reading, energy production 0.000 06 kW per hour
- charging a mobile phone during the day - 0.0005 kW per hour
- charging a mobile phone while reading during the night - 0.00056 kW per hour

A laptop computer cannot be powered by MEP because for one hour of work it would be necessary to produce approximately 0.08 kWh, which represents approximately 150 hours of pedaling. The Croatian Prime Minister’s BMW cannot be powered by MEP because for one hour of work it would be necessary to produce about 200 kWh, which represents approximately 360,000 hours of pedaling. The Croatian Government’s aircraft cannot be powered by MEP because for one hour of work it would be necessary to produce about 5,000 kWh, which represents approximately 9 million hours of pedaling.

production: KONTEJNER (DIY_ARTLAB)

Dubravko Kuhta Tesla (HR)

I was born many years ago during the past millennium, in 1957, in a small city under Mt. Medvednica which has grown into a metropolis in the meantime. For my sixth birthday I was given my first model train, which I took apart to see how it worked. This event proved to be crucial. Afterwards I took apart a huge pile of toys and some more expensive stuff, which I further used to put together my “inventions.” And I have done so ever since to the present days (except that today I rarely dismantle anything that still functions!). These ideas together with my claim that “nothing except teleportation is unfeasible today, and that it is just a question of how much money one is ready to invest into the realization,” are what brought me into collaboration with numerous artists and institutions in order to solve apparently unsolvable problems. Besides “solving” a few big and a few smaller exhibitions in Zagreb and abroad (Zdravo budi!, Here Tomorrow, Sao Paolo Biennial, Venice Biennial, architecture Biennial in Venice...). I was a sound engineer at Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall for many years and have designed multimedia space projects. Finally, I have ended up at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, the Department for Animated Film and New Media. In my free time I experiment with Kinetic Art, sometimes I even get prizes for it. Some of my last
experiments were shown at major Croatian exhibitions like The Triennial of Croatian
Sculpture, Croatian Drawing Triennial, Device_ Art, T-HTaward@msu.hr...