Smart Vermins

Solo Exhibition & Interventions
Public Space and Schauraum 35/nullnull, Krems, AUT, 2014

As part of Viertelfestival Niederösterreich 2014

Sponsored by
W.E.B. Windenergie, Fahrschule Prohaska

Supported by
Gernot Schulz
Manfred Maier

In his series Smart Vermin, Rainer Prohaska looked for niches that his small energy-sucking devices could latch onto like parasites. The aerodynamics of driving vehicles, the motion of water in public fountains or the draft in permanent ventilation units served Rainer Prohaska’s power parasites as a means to generate electricity. But the electricity these mini power plants generated they used only for the purpose of self-presentation in lighting their own structure. Vermin both vain and smart: after all, the energy they exploit would otherwise go unused.
This series confronts us with the question of whether devices can be called smart whose only purpose is their own existence.