Launched on September 6, 2014, the ‘Energy Walk’ weaves together the landscapes of the Danish Wave Energy Center, in Hanstholm, Denmark, with other landscapes at the energy edge: marine energy in Orkney, Scotland, and geothermal energy in Iceland. It tells stories and offers dreams of sustainable energy futures from our research project Alien Energy at the IT University of Copenhagen.
The walk begins at Færgegrillen, Hanstholm Havn, on the northwest coast of Jutland. There you can borrow a beautiful, carved wooden, digital walking stick (until 1 November 2014). From there you can immerse yourself in the experience of walking the grassy sand dunes, and harbour-side. The walking sticks are carved from the wood of the nearby Thy National Park. Integrated into the digital walking stick is an audio player and headphones – technology that has been handcrafted for the project by GeekPhysical, part of Illutron, the floating collaborative interactive art studio.
Guided by a digital walking stick, visitors are taken on a 40-minute experience of energy at the edge.
The walk is in six chapters, marked by posts that you encounter in the landscape. When you touch the walking stick against the posts, a voice will start guiding you through the landscape.
When you return to Færgegrillen, there is an opportunity for you to feedback your thoughts, dreams, and experiences, and, of course, have a cup of coffee whilst looking out at the harbour.
The following two videos present a short extract of the 40 minute walk as well as an interview with associate professor Laura Watts talking about the Alien Energy project and the recent launch of the Energy Walk.
For those who are unable to visit the seascape of Hanstholm, you can listen to the audio on Soundcloud, which is available here on the web, or you can download the Soundcloud app to listen to the albums on your phone:
Listen to EnergiVandring (Dansk)
Listen to Energy Walk (English)
The Energy Walk was created as part of the Alien Energy project at IT University of Copenhagen. The story is written and recorded in English, by ethnographer and associate professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, Laura Watts, in collaboration with the research team. The Danish version is translated and recorded by Danish author Peter Adolphsen.
