RACHY MCEWAN
Rachy McEwan is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher based in London. In 2020, she graduated with First Class Honors in a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting and Printmaking from The Glasgow School of Art, where she was awarded the RSA New Contemporaries Award. More recently, she completed a Master's in Material Futures at UAL: Central Saint Martins with Distinction and was shortlisted for the Maison/0 LVMH Maison Award.
Rachy challenges traditional approaches to human perception through her work, which explores the interconnections between technology and environmental, political, and societal issues. By bridging the natural, artificial, and non-human worlds, she collaborates across disciplines such as engineering, arboriculture, and science to reshape our relationships with the land and more-than-human entities.
Her research and techno-sensual artistic practices foster new dialogues in cognition and machine learning. She introduces innovative concepts like the sensorial ecology of intelligence, the machine microbiome, machine ecosystems, and biological machines.
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MONEY TREES
2024
www.money-trees.ukMoney Trees aims to increase the value and autonomy of urban trees in London, reducing the likelihood of their removal. By utilising community art, activism and technology to transform how we economically value trees, reducing the chances of them being cut down. Trees are a vital living being for both human and ecological health. However, current systems often fail to accurately value their worth, leading to their removal with little or no fee.
Through the Money Trees website, visitors are encouraged to take photos of various trees around London from different angles. These photographs are then transformed into 3D digital assets and uploaded onto a GIS mapping system on the Money Trees website, which also provides information on the specific tree species, health, and carbon sequestration value. The digital trees can be purchased in pixels, allowing many people to own parts of the same asset. The money collected helps with the maintenance of the trees. If a physical tree is cut down, the funds accumulated from the digital asset will be reinvested into the community for tree replanting.
By merging art, technology, and a passion for the environment, Money Trees seeks not only to safeguard urban trees but also to highlight their vital economic and ecological role.