Capri Battery
“This “object” work presents energy by connecting a lemon to an
incandescent light bulb painted yellow. The lemon’s acidity generates a
weak electrical current, causing it to function as a battery, and
illuminate the bulb. Although invisible on the surface of the bulb, the
viewer is led to imagine this “light” as energy being generated. The
pairing of the lemon — having grown storing electromagnetic radiation
from sunshine via photosynthesis, and now, as a detached fruit in the
process of decomposition — with the light bulb presents the existence
of energy as something transformed and transported beyond simple
assumptions of the natural and the artificial, in this unpredictable and
vivid coupling. This was one of BEUYS’ last works. Capri is the name of
the island famous for its lemon production near Napoli.” – from “Light InSight” exhibition site

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