RACHY MCEWAN
Rachy McEwan is an interdisciplinary artist, design researcher, and technologist based in London. Her practice combines art, interactive systems, and emerging technologies to investigate urban ecologies, digital infrastructures, and more-than-human interaction. Working across painting, programming, 3D imaging, speculative design, and installation, she develops participatory experiences that examine how technological systems shape perception, behaviour, and environmental relationships.
Rachy graduated with a First Class BA in Painting and Printmaking from The Glasgow School of Art, where she received the RSA New Contemporaries Award, and later completed an MA in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins with Distinction, where she was shortlisted for the Maison/0 LVMH Maison Award. Her work has been exhibited internationally across London, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Estonia, and Glasgow, including presentations at Saatchi Galleryand BASE Milano.
Alongside her artistic practice, Rachy works as a design researcher with the Design Museum, developing projects exploring environmental sensing, participatory technologies, and ecological futures. She frequently collaborates across disciplines including engineering, arboriculture, science, and creative technology, combining technical experimentation with critical and conceptual inquiry.
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MONEY TREES
2024
www.money-trees.uk
Colaborators :
Data @treeconomics
Community Group @notice_this_tree
Touch Design @niki_cardoso_zaupa
Coding @peti_filou
Audio @loubrishanterry
Money 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.