Artist's 'Power Eater' Refrigerator Igloo Warms You, the Globe

(Nov. 15) -- Ever thought of using a refrigerator to keep warm? It may not be all that efficient, but efficiency isn't exactly what German artist Ralf Schmerberg was going for when he built his "Stromfresser," or "Power Eater."

The "Power Eater" is a public art piece that takes the shape of a giant igloo made from 320 refrigerators in the middle of Hamburg. Inside, there's a "tower of consumption," by artist Esa Ott, made from gadgets such as fans, TVs and toasters all plugged in and draining electricity. A nearby meter measures the total electrical requirement of the "Power Eater."

For Schmerberg, his over-the-top display of excess is meant to be a statement about the role that consumption plays in climate change and environmental degradation. For him, the sheer amount of energy we consume is more dangerous than what we burn to make it, and he believes that it's Western society's insatiable desire for new gadgets and gizmos that's warming us like we're in a giant global igloo.

"We are playing with this fetish that we think we have a better life if we use better electronic devices -- it's totally bulls**t," Schmerberg told AOL News.

"A machine to open a tin when you used to use a hand opener, a machine to cut a turkey when you used to use a knife, a machine for this, a machine for that," he continues.

"A lot of these electronic devices, they make us lazy stupid, tired, useless."

Every fridge in the structure opens outward -- meaning that their compressors fill the inside of the structure with an uncomfortable, whirring heat.

In America, consumption can be a contentious issue. Last May, filmmaker Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff," an environmentalist cartoon about the systems that produce consumer goods, became a hit in classrooms across the country. Critics called the film's anti-consumerist message "Marxist."

That tense debate between two sides that see each other as socialist hippies and hyperconsumptive fat cats is one of the reasons that Schmerberg wanted to make something more fun than typical environmental-awareness campaigns -- in addition to a statement on environmentalism, the igloo is a big strange sight in the middle of Hamburg's shopping district that people can visit.

"We are a bit bored of the moralistic discussions on the theme of nature, putting the finger up and so on -- feeling right and wrong," he says. "I don't want to divide -- we see that we need creativity and another way to deal with the issues."

Schmerberg produced "Power Eater" in cooperation with a local utility company. He's also created a piece on nuclear waste and a magazine about consumption, and he's working on a documentary film about debate.