The exhibition How Much Wattage is One Handbreadth of Water? is a field story that confronts hydroelectric power in a tangible, bodily way, drawing connections between the two technically mediated natures: Thailand’s Vajiralongkorn Dam Reservoir and Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport Waterfall.

Turning Storefront into a filmic and sonic environment, AA alumni Jingru (Cyan) Cheng and Chen Zhan seek to instigate a hydroelectric sensibility, through which one might see electricity through the physical movement of the floating rafts, see the dam as a hyper sensitive mage-being, and hear the humming of the transnational power grid – that is, a new legibility or alternative common sense that aims to unsettle the cultural imaginaries associated with the Jewel waterfall.

This field story is part of the on-going Tracing Sand journey made possible by Harvard GSD’s Wheelwright Prize, as well as the Into the Field project supported by Canadian Centre for Architecture’s (CCA) Mellon Multidisciplinary Programme.

The exhibition is on view until 19 April 2025. Click here to find out more.

Image: Photo by Luis Corzo.