BRITTA RILEY & REBECCA BRAY
Windowfarms and R&D-I-Y (Research and Develop It Yourself)
Date: Saturday 9.19
Start Time: 12:00pm
Location: Rm. 204, Barney Building
Workshop Requirements: You should bring a printout of a picture of the window you are thinking about using for your windowfarm. The picture should show window depth and what’s around it. You should also take 7 measurements of the indoor side of your window (see below for specific details).
Ordinary citizens, as end-users, have valuable insights to contribute to the green innovation process and the local manpower to implement a green revolution. We do not need to wait for academia, big science’s R&D labs, corporations, and government to solve environmental problems for all of us by laying in a lot of new infrastructure. By getting our hands dirty and sharing an evolving set of techniques, we are creating a network of fast, easy, local solutions to environmental problems and setting precedents that make widespread behavior change more plausible.
This workshop will center around, Windowfarms, the latest focus of R&D-I-Y.
Windowfarms are vertical hydroponic, veggie-producing curtains made primarily of recycled materials or parts available at local hardware stores. The project was developed in part through a residency at Eyebeam. By building windowfarms in their windows, New Yorkers can grow a portion of their own organic food year-round in their apartments and offices, cutting down on the 1/3 of US carbon footprint
As more urban dwellers build their own, test new techniques, and share information on the our.windowfarms.org community site, we are building a valuable body of crowdsourced R&D innovations.
Workshop participants will:
- Learn more about the Windowfarms Project, R&D-I-Y, and hydroponics
- See models and learn how to build one of several windowfarm variations
- Get help designing a system customized for their windows
- Learn how to use the windowfarms site to share their own innovations
- Discuss how to start a craze around grassroots green R&D
Please bring:
- A printout of a picture of the window you are thinking about using for your windowfarm. The picture should show window depth and what’s around it.
- Take 7 measurements of the indoor side of your window
a-height of glass area
b- width of glass area
c- height of frame interior
d-width of frame interior
e- depth of sill
f- height from floor to window
g- height from window to ceiling
h- distance to nearest power outlet in feet
- Some thoughts about what kinds of plants you would like to grow.
Britta Riley’s work plays with current structures for innovation in our culture and celebrates the wisdom of ordinary people. By means of a process she calls R&D-I-Y (research and develop it yourself), she applies a pedestrian mentality to intractable global issues to a surprising effect. Her Drink.Pee.Drink.Pee.Drink.Pee project in collaboration with Rebecca Bray helped people turn their pee into fertilizer for their houseplants through kits, events, and an installation. Her current project, Windowfarms.org, helps New Yorkers grow food in their apartments year-round by means of hydroponic window curtains. Her projects have been featured in MoMA’s Earth Day show, the Venice Biennale 2008, Ars Electronica 2009, on the Discovery Channel, Artnews, Art in America, We-Make-Money-Not-Art, Domus (Italy), and Grist.com. She is a graduate of NYU Tisch’s Interactive Telecommunication Program and St. John’s College’s Great Books Program and an honorary resident at Eyebeam.
