Erin | Artists- Apple batteries

Came across a lovely work relating to the class exercise while unsuccessfully attempting to retrack down a work involving wind sensors in a remote location and grasses in a gallery space that mimic the movement of grass of that space. (Maybe I dreamt it? If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be grateful.)

Caleb Charland used 300 apples to power a lamp.

Explained here. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/visualscience/

Inspired by the science class project where fruits or vegetables are used to power a clock or LED light, Charland wired together 300 apples still on the tree to power a lamp. He put a zinc-coated galvanized nail into each apple and a bare copper wire into the other end to create a current through the electrolytes (charged particles) in the fruit. Electrons flowed from the zinc electrode (where the zinc reacts with the acid in the apple) through the light and into the copper electrode, which transferred electrons back into the fruit. Every ten apples provided about 5 volts, powering an LED for several hours. Charland writes:

"I began installing the work at 9 in the morning. I had no frame of reference for how long the process would actually take. I didn't want to start too early fearing I would get done too soon and potentially wear out the "batteries" before I could start my photographic exposure, thus wasting a lot of time and fruit. I worked all day and took no break, I was still wiring the orchard after sunset. I finished install at 8 pm then began my 4 hour exposure on photographic film. The final image was created using a large format camera that uses color film measuring 4x5 inches."

http://calebcharland.com/

The sense of wonder present in this work is something I respond to most.  It's a relatively simple gesture using basic means: apple, nails, copper wire and bulb to create a transcendent environment.  Of course there's poetry and mythology represented here too, as the image depicts a visual metaphor to the tree of knowledge and perhaps even a statement about collective knowledge/energy coming together to illuminate the darkness.