Fox Friday: Solar Power for Artists

This workshop will introduce participants to a range of techniques for creating solar powered robotic drawing machines. We will discuss the history of drawing machines and the poetic opportunities enabled by working with an environmentally responsive power source, like solar power. Participants will learn the basics of solar energy and how to solder. Everyone will build their own solar powered drawing machine.

Instructor: Alex Nathanson is a designer, technologist, artist, and educator. His work is primarily focused on exploring both the experimental and practical applications of sustainable energy technologies. He is the founder and lead designer of the education and art platform Solar Power for Artists and its partner studio, Energy Transition Design LLC. The mission of both organizations is to make sustainable energy accessible, tactile, and understandable. As a solar power designer, he has created interactive and educational projects for the Climate Museum, Solar One, and the NYC Department of Education. In collaboration with Tega Brain and Bennedetta Piantella, he co-created the Solar Protocol project. His book “A History of Solar Power Art and Design” was published by Routledge in 2021.