Exhibition:

Invasive Energy Harvesting: EROI Drink

Exhibition by Yoshinari Nishiki

14 Apr 2023
25 Jun 2023

EROI Drink (エロいドリンク) is an energy drink made from invasive Japanese Knotweed harvested within the Netherlands. By focusing on unpolluted strains obtained through water companies and a nature conservation organization, a form of “clean waste” can be achieved, which poses a new type of utopic resource for this finite environment. 

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Presentatie van de Japanse Duizendknoop Energie Drank - EROI DRINK - Yoshinari Nishiki EROI Drink (エロいドリンク) is een energiedrank gemaakt van de invasieve Japanse duizendknoop die binnen Nederland is geoogst. Door te focussen op onvervuilde stammen verkregen via waterbedrijven en een natuurbeschermingsorganisatie kan een vorm van "schoon afval" worden bereikt, wat een nieuw type utopische hulpbron vormt voor deze beperkte omgeving. Justin Knelange

An energy drink, as it sounds, is typically produced in a dedicated supply chain by literally pouring energy into each bottle. However, EROI, which stands for Energy Return on Investment, best avoids devoting energies to its production: the resulting Drink is mere a “by-product” derived from the process of controlling an invasive plant.

In the exhibition, you could witness artefacts left behind by Japanese artist Yoshinari Nishiki who attempted to eradicate invasive Japanese Knotweed. Nishiki had prepared ingredients for the special Amsterdam edition of EROI Drink, allowing the audience members to bottle their own drinks within the exhibition space.

EROI means romantic in the Japanese language and heroes in the Italian language, making itself suitable for an energy drink name. EROI is also a measure of energy system efficiency in ecological economics that has been increasingly vital in recent years.

Unlike a normal energy drink, EROI Drink’s energy does not come from caffeine but Resveratrol which is mainly contained in the roots of Japanese Knotweed. When dried for two weeks, they become a herbal medicine called Hu Zhang which some studies claim to slow down inflammations caused by coronavirus. 

Yoshinari Nishiki

Yoshinari Nishiki is a Japanese artist based in Rotterdam. In his work, Yoshinari pays attention to the entanglement of economics and ecology. He is the founder of Technology of Future Utopia (TOFU), a company that focuses on artistic intervention in logistics and economic systems.

Information

14 April – 25 June
Tuesday – Sunday
12:00 – 21:00
Free Entry