Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Institute for the Study of Solar Practices

The Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Institute for the Study of Solar Practices explores new ways of thinking about energetic entities, such as petroleum, whale oil, electricity, and the sun to decenter anthropocentric representations of nature, culture, and technology. The Institute takes a pluralistic approach to meaning making, providing critical and creative inquiries that pose a very basic question: why do Western humans presume that because energetic entities exist, they should be put to work for human economic productive means?

The Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Institute website is a solar powered website. It exists intermittently, in relation to solar activity at the local server site.

Solar practices explore relations as practices that create alternative conceptualizations of meaning making, knowledge production, media, communication, community, agencies, and beings-together that challenge anthropocentrism. Solar practices does not distinguish between the practices of different entities, and does not assume (Western, English-speaking) human representations are the correct, universal, descriptions of life. Instead, it constructs meaning through relations.

The Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Institute for the Study of Solar Practices is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This project is supported by The Generator Fund, a grant for artists administered by The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art and funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. It is fiscally sponsored by Wave Farm, with partnerships from Gray Area for the Arts, New Monuments Task Force, the Center for Emotional Materiality, and the Department of Media Study University at Buffalo, SUNY.

Project Director

Dr. Elia Vargas, Visiting Assistant Professor, UB Media Study

Project coordinator

Chris Michael

Heliotechnician

Amber Manto, Giuliano Gati

Solar survey co-designer

Dr. Abigail Cooke

Community support

Dr. Christina Corfield

Solar server designer

James Pardue

Website designer

Sierra Vargas