(About Tom Cousins)

(links)

(Contact)

A collaborative artwork between Tom Cousins, Frank Jackson, David Thornton, and many others to promote the aims and objectives of The Lydney Local Power Scheme.

My local community renewable energy scheme, Lydney Local Power, was running into inertia problems, I wanted to explore issues surrounding renewable energy production and help increase publicity and interest in the program.

To do this I devised 'the Four Lunches' project. For it I prepared 4 meals on consequetive solstices using different renewable energy sources WNES of Lydney using locally sourced seasonable ingredients and recipes.

For each meal I organised a picture caption and human interest story to coalesce double page spreads on renewable energy issues in the local paper. Each lunch was video'd and momento paraphenalia kept for exhibition purposes.

For the first lunch on 21 September 2002 I milked a cow, picked some blackberries, and suspended a DIY waterwheel for churning butter, into Tintern's mill stream, 5 miles west of Lydney. I then served lunch to strangers on the banks of the river in the shadow of Tintern Abbey.

For the second lunch on 21 December 2002, I cooked local organic root vegetable stew, using DIY made charcoal, on top of New Fancy View slag heap 5 miles north of Lydeny.

For the third lunch on 21 March 2003, I cooked noodle soup, using an Ampair wind turbine to directly power a soldering iron in a thermos, at Sharpness marina 5 miles east of Lydney.

For the fourth lunch on 21 June 2003, I organised a solar egg cooking challenge at Bathurst Park, south Lydney. The solar cookers were all reflective parabolic curves, the winning design being an alluminium foiled satelite dish.

Results: (The Technology) (Admin madness) (Lydney Local Power Scheme) (The Art Byproduct)