Untitled Wind Energy Film,still, courtesy of the artist.
Fred Schmidt-Arenales
Artist in residency
- Autorésidence
Untitled Wind Energy Film explores recent proposals for large-scale wind-to-hydrogen mega-projects in Newfoundland, via hybrid documentary and participatory approaches. I regard these projects as examples of green extractivism, and the film seeks to understand their potential effects on rural communities.
The term “green extractivism” refers to profit-driven development and infrastructure projects labelled as “green,” “sustainable,” or “environmental” that appropriate land and resources at the expense of local communities and their environments.
The film highlights the subsistence practices that continue to exist on the island, including gardening, fishing, foraging, hunting, and farming. These ways of life, which I consider essential in a post-carbon future, are directly threatened by the large industrial green energy projects currently being proposed on the island.
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The Autoresidency programme is an artist residency initiative launched by AXENÉO7 in 2020 in response to the pandemic context. Initially conducted remotely, the program has since evolved to welcome independent projects and research engaged with contemporary issues in artistic creation. It fosters a fluid relationship with the centre while transcending geographic, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries. The Autoresidencies offer artists a space for open experimentation, allowing them to explore new forms and contexts of creation.
Fred Schmidt-Arenales is an artist and filmmaker working across participatory non-fiction film, experimental narrative film, and video installation. His projects attempt to bring awareness to unconscious processes on the individual and group level. He has presented solo exhibitions at Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York), Visual Arts Center (Austin), and Galveston Artist Residency (Galveston). He has presented films, installations, and performances internationally at venues including SculptureCenter and The Bronx Museum (New York), Links Hall and The Logan Center for the Arts (Chicago), The Darling Foundry (Montreal), LightBox, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Vox Populi, and The School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia), Artspace (New Haven), The Museum of Fine Arts and FotoFest (Houston), Künstlerhaus Halle für Kunst und Medien (Graz), and Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna). His film Committee of Six was awarded a Jury Prize for Best of the Festival at the 2023 Onion City Experimental Film Festival.
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