The Environment Machine Shop | Michael Lucenkiw

The Environment Machine Shop is presented by Cluster Festival and Video Pool Media Arts Centre.

The Environment Machine Shop explores our relationships with the rivers of Winnipeg by examining six water samples taken from sites along the Red, Assiniboine and Seine rivers using a collection of DIY tools. The artworks use water pumps, LEDs, lenses, audio samples and sounds that encourage you to reimagine your relationship with Winnipeg’s rivers – an important ecosystem that’s often mistreated.

The water samples are studied using non-western normative techniques such as projecting water samples on the ceiling and using contact microphones to listen to water flow. You are encouraged to turn knobs, press buttons and interact with many of the Victorian-era inspired science instruments which are built and re-interpreted in a hacker/maker style using Arduinos, copper piping, and other found and reused materials to engage with Red River water samples.

Explore the Machine Shop to see water samples from the Red, Assiniboine and Seine Rivers in a playful and explorative way. This is an invitation to make an empathetic connection with our rivers.