The Image Mill

source: rhizomeorg

The Image Mill is a public sculpture that uses the force and beauty of falling water as the energy to create a moving picture. The artwork merges an optical illusion that led to the invention of movies with one of the first power sources. By referencing the histories of cinema and industrialization, The Image Mill explores a possible future of environmentally responsible media—looking forward by looking back.

One of the first movies created was a galloping horse and this piece also uses it as a metaphor for the region’s auto industry. The ‘horsepower’ that drove the Michigan industrial age is at a transition to a new age of alternative energy…the pony stumbles, but continues on.

This theme was also revealed in the fabrication. Made by Michigan metal workers, the artwork proves that the skills of industrial-era tradesmen can be tapped as a valuable resource as the region considers new sustainable directions.
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source: facebook

Scott Hessels is filmmaker, sculptor and media artist who explores new relationships between the moving image and the environment. His artworks span several different media including film, video, web, music, broadcast, print, kinetic sculpture, and performance. His films have shown in hundreds of international film festivals and his new media installations have been presented in exhibitions around the world as well as been included in several books on new media art and in popular magazines like Wired and Discover. His recent projects have mixed film with sensors, robotics, GPS systems, and alternative forms of interactivity and have included partnerships with NASA, The Federal Aviation Administration, Nokia among others. He is currently an associate professor at The School of Creative Media in City University of Hong Kong.