The Afterlife project is intended to instigate a metaphysical dialogue, examining the cultural shift from belief systems upheld by organised religion to the more factual basis of science and technology.
The project proposes the harnessing of our chemical potential after biological death through the application of a microbial fuel cell, harvesting its electrical potential in a dry cell battery. Here, technology acts to provide conclusive proof of life after death, life being contained in the battery.
There are many perspectives and beliefs on what happens to us after our lives in this planet come to an end.
When faced with our own mortality or that of a loved one,
notions of what the afterlife may hold; whether it be in a spirit world such as heaven or reincarnated into another body or form, spiritual faith can offer great comfort and reassurance.
Science and reason though have started to undermine these traditional belief systems as we strive to find logic and meaning in our existence.
This scientific research has yet to offer any tangible proof of continued existence, after death.
So in terms of comfort and reassurance what then is there for the grieving atheist?
Technology has had its attempt at creating life after death with cryonics - freezing the body of the recently deceased in the hope of later restoring it to life with the help of future technological advances. But as religion demands unquestioned faith in its believers, cryonics demands a similar faith in the progression of technology.
With this in mind, Afterlife offers a technologically mediated service providing a tangible expression of life after death.
13.7 billion years before the Earth existed, the blue print and elemental makeup for this planet and all its contents were formed. The big bang is widely accepted as the event responsible for the creation of everything - The universe, its stars, it’s planets; it’s trees, animals, silicon, I-pods and humanity. Nothing, including the human body, exists that cannot be created from these basic building blocks.
Under normal circumstances after death, the human body would be assimilated back into this natural system.
The Afterlife device intervenes during this process to harness the chemical potential and convert it into usable electrical energy via a microbial fuel cell - a device that uses an electrochemical reaction to generate electricity from organic matter.
This electricity is contained within a familiar dry cell battery.
The afterlife battery can be used to run a range of memorial products chosen to suit the needs of the individual. Utilization of the battery in a meaningful product offers both psychological and emotional benefit. Where to put the battery is an extremely personal and emotive choice. A torch provides a poignant output for the
battery, light already being associated with security and comfort. The person’s energy once converted into a beam of light can continue for eternity
One might choose to rarely use the product, preserving the potential energy for special moments such as birthdays or anniversaries.
The Afterlife batteries of couples could be combined to provide double the power or amp-hours and also suggesting an ongoing co-existence after death.
Afterlife offers a contemporary and scientifically validated service that acknowledges ourselves as chemical entities providing perhaps the only genuine guarantee of life after death.
Phase II of the project took place in 2009. We asked 15 people to propose what they would do with an afterlife battery charged either by themselves or their partner/family. (More of these to come)
Afterlife Phase II at Experimenta 09
The project proposes the harnessing of our chemical potential after biological death through the application of a microbial fuel cell, harvesting its electrical potential in a dry cell battery. Here, technology acts to provide conclusive proof of life after death, life being contained in the battery.
Afterlife from Auger-Loizeau on Vimeo.
There are many perspectives and beliefs on what happens to us after our lives in this planet come to an end.
When faced with our own mortality or that of a loved one,
notions of what the afterlife may hold; whether it be in a spirit world such as heaven or reincarnated into another body or form, spiritual faith can offer great comfort and reassurance.
Science and reason though have started to undermine these traditional belief systems as we strive to find logic and meaning in our existence.
This scientific research has yet to offer any tangible proof of continued existence, after death.
So in terms of comfort and reassurance what then is there for the grieving atheist?
Technology has had its attempt at creating life after death with cryonics - freezing the body of the recently deceased in the hope of later restoring it to life with the help of future technological advances. But as religion demands unquestioned faith in its believers, cryonics demands a similar faith in the progression of technology.
With this in mind, Afterlife offers a technologically mediated service providing a tangible expression of life after death.
13.7 billion years before the Earth existed, the blue print and elemental makeup for this planet and all its contents were formed. The big bang is widely accepted as the event responsible for the creation of everything - The universe, its stars, it’s planets; it’s trees, animals, silicon, I-pods and humanity. Nothing, including the human body, exists that cannot be created from these basic building blocks.
Under normal circumstances after death, the human body would be assimilated back into this natural system.
The Afterlife device intervenes during this process to harness the chemical potential and convert it into usable electrical energy via a microbial fuel cell - a device that uses an electrochemical reaction to generate electricity from organic matter.
This electricity is contained within a familiar dry cell battery.
The afterlife battery can be used to run a range of memorial products chosen to suit the needs of the individual. Utilization of the battery in a meaningful product offers both psychological and emotional benefit. Where to put the battery is an extremely personal and emotive choice. A torch provides a poignant output for the
battery, light already being associated with security and comfort. The person’s energy once converted into a beam of light can continue for eternity
One might choose to rarely use the product, preserving the potential energy for special moments such as birthdays or anniversaries.
The Afterlife batteries of couples could be combined to provide double the power or amp-hours and also suggesting an ongoing co-existence after death.
Afterlife offers a contemporary and scientifically validated service that acknowledges ourselves as chemical entities providing perhaps the only genuine guarantee of life after death.
Phase II of the project took place in 2009. We asked 15 people to propose what they would do with an afterlife battery charged either by themselves or their partner/family. (More of these to come)
Afterlife Phase II at Experimenta 09