wiredInUSA April 2017

Art in wire

Tidal turbine test

A Dubai hotel is exhibiting images created from wire. The exhibition shows artwork created by Mira Mortada who captured the features of 15 people, some real and some imaginary, in a series of metal wire portraits. Each portrait is created from a single piece of wire, intricately twisted to show a human face. The exhibition’s title is Ashkal, the plural of the Arabic word “shakl” meaning shapes or forms. Mira Mortada is a Lebanese artist who started her career in Dubai working in advertising, publishing and branding. She was art editor at Brownbook magazine before starting Ashkal Artworks, her series of framed metal wire portraits. She currently works as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator.

In mid-February Envirotek, together with an international team of experts, successfully deployed a Schottel Instream Turbine (SIT) in the waters off the Sentosa Boardwalk in Singapore, to showcase the viability of tidal energy in the region. Envirotek, a Singapore-based clean technology investment company, aspires to lead tidal in-stream energy projects in southeast Asia. “This demonstration is about using appropriate technologies in suitable locations to address real energy needs [in] southeast Asia. We are keen to develop projects that involve marine renewable energy — a resource that is yet to be tapped effectively in the region,” said Jefferson Cheng, chairman and founder of Envirotek Pte Ltd. Dr Michael Lochinvar Sim Abundo, MD of OceanPixel Pte Ltd, noted that ocean renewable energy is not currently in the energy mix in southeast Asia. OceanPixel Pte Ltd, a spin-off company from the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was chosen to manage the project on behalf of Envirotek Pte Ltd.

wiredInUSA - April 2017

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