A Presentation on Agricultural Innovation and Practices Led by Jonathan Chambalin with Ryan Tenney and John Doe
On March 6th, 2026, G.A.S. Lagos hosted One Bulb at a Time, a presentation exploring how agricultural innovation can respond to the unique challenges of the Lagos landscape. Led by Jonathan Chambalin in collaboration with Lagos Gallery Weekend, the session brought together practitioners across craft, farming, and technology, including John Doe a local farmer, and G.A.S. alumnus Ryan Tenney, an agro technologists whose work foregrounds Pan-African approaches to communal development.
Installation images from One Bult At A Time, presented at G.A.S. Lagos.
The afternoon opened with a welcome address from Residency and Project Manager Adekunle Adeoboye, who situated G.A.S. within broader conversations on local innovation. He offered an overview of G.A.S. Foundation’s mission and its role within the local cultural and ecological context. Jonathan Chambalin followed with an introduction to his practice, sharing insights from his Food to Power series, a project that explores decentralized energy generation using woven plant fibers derived from ewedu stalks. His presentation reflected on how industrialisation and rapid urban growth continue to reshape the ways communities engage with food systems and energy production.
Jonathan Chambalin presenting his artistic practice and interest to the audience at One Bult At A Time, presented at G.A.S. Lagos.
Ryan expanded on these ideas through a discussion on agricultural technologies, highlighting tools and methods that merge farming with technological experimentation. As an interdisciplinary (agri)cultural practitioner, his work explores how creative and agrarian practices can function as frameworks for collective care, liberation, and the imagining of alternative futures. During the session, he demonstrated the use of an Arduino chip and presented a repurposed hoverboard adapted to support the labour of craftspeople and farm workers.
Ryan Tenney presenting his artistic practice and interest to the audience at One Bult At A Time, presented at G.A.S. Lagos.
Participants were invited to engage with a range of works, including kinetic sculptures, paintings, photographs, and small-scale wind turbines. One kinetic sculpture, addressing soil erosion and the temporality of public awareness, rotated in response to the sun’s movement and encouraged visitors to contribute written reflections. These responses will inform future iterations of opinion-based kinetic works, extending the participatory dimension of the project.
Enveloped responses from participants, holding written reflections that will inform the development of future kinetic sculptures atOne Bult At A Time, presented at G.A.S. Lagos.
The event concluded with a panel discussion featuring Jonathan, Ryan and John, offering grounded, firsthand perspectives on the realities, challenges, and innovations shaping contemporary agricultural life.
Jonathan Chambalin in converation with Ryan Tenney and John Doe at One Bulb At A Time at G.A.S. Lagos.
Guests at One Bulb At A Time presented at G.A.S. Lagos.
Event Details
Date: 6th March, 2026
Time: 1:00pm - 3:30pm
Location: 9b, Hakeem Dickson Drive, off T.F. Kuboye Road, Oniru, Lagos
About Jonathan Chambalin
Jonathan Chinedu Chambalin is a multidisciplinary artist based in Lagos, Nigeria. Born on February 16, 1995, and originally from Imo State, he works across full-scale installation, cinemagraphs, sound art, painting, photography, and kinetic sculpture. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts and Mass Communication from the University of Benin and trained in photogrammetry with the Factum Foundation 2023, contributing to digital preservation work with MOWAA 2025. Chambalin was a grantee and exhibiting artist for the Re Entanglements project with the University of London and the Cambridge Museum and participated in Rele Young Contemporaries in 2020. He has been featured by Elephant Magazine UK, BBC World Service and shown by African Artist Foundation, Art Joburg, Kunst Museum Bonn, & University of Bayreuth. In 2025, he presented his first solo exhibition, Umuneji Flamingo at Adegbola gallery , in Lagos. He is shortlisted for the 2026 Intercontinental Biennale in Panama.
Photo of Jonathan Chambalin. Image courtesy of Timothy Onuchukwu.
Jonathan's residency is generously supported by Deutsche Bank.
