Xiaopeng Zhou

From Stone to Virtual Value

2018
Color pencil, Marker on green colored paper and sketch paper, A4 and A3, 25 pieces in total
16cm Galvanized iron pipes, Variable size

As an unconventional fossil fuel, oil shale has been increasingly discussed in recent years. First, the United States relied on “Hydraulic fracturing” to achieve a sharp increase in local oil production, followed by Sinopec obtained a technical breakthrough in shale gas exploration and development, making China the world’s third largest shale gas production. However, oil shale is not a new type of fossil energy. In Estonia, the history of oil shale mining has been a century. Oil shale is the backbone of local energy and foundation of all systems. However, extracting shale oil and gas from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact, but it can provide employment opportunities for about 1% of the population and make Estonia’s energy production independent without dependence on other countries.

At the same time, in the process of encrypting e-currency madness, a large number of “miners” have been attracted and involved in the “Bitcoin mining” boom. Encrypted electronic currency also has a large demand for energy. The mechanical systems which have been used in the huge “mines” are mainly from China. Though the investigation in Estonia, I try to explore the process of converting oil shale, a non-renewable mineral, into a virtual value.