This
is an aesthetic movement – which has become a cultural and
political one.
And
it's gaining a lot of interest – and a lot of ground, in many
different spheres.
This is where it's at now:
.
SCIENCE
FICTION – BUILDING UTOPIAS:
.
Here's
a view from a book-lover's website:.
AN
INTRODUCTION TO THE SOLARPUNK GENRE
Emily
Wenstrom Mar 23, 2021
While
a great deal of science fiction involves gloom, doom, and cynicism
about humanity’s fate (Apocalypse! Dystopia! Grimdark!), there are
bright spots of optimism within the genre. Meet solarpunk.
WHAT
IS SOLARPUNK?
The
overall vibe of the solarpunk genre is often described as inspired by
Art Nouveau, Victorian, and Afrofuturist motifs. Illustrations of
solarpunk landscapes often look hypermodern, light, airy, and
colorful, but can also be rich in elegant detail. Most of all,
everything is so, so green. Just covered in leaves.
Along
with this visual style, the spirit of solarpunk is one of
craftsmanship, egalitarianism, and optimism where technology can be
put to work to solve our greatest problems.
The
first mentions of solarpunk trace back to the late 2000s, but the
sub-genre became more widely recognized thanks to the Tumblr of Miss
Olivia Louise, who frequently posted images that reflect what’s
become recognized as the solarpunk aesthetic, and had a post in
this style and explaining it go viral in 2014.
An
Introduction to The Solarpunk Genre | Book Riot
.
With
a new book just out:
Arizona
State University’s Free Solarpunk Anthology is All About Optimistic
Futures
.
HI-TECH
– LO-TECH:
.
Here's
the perspective from
“the online
community for startups and tech companies“:
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SOLARPUNK
IS A TUMBLR VIBE. IT’S ALSO A PRACTICAL MOVEMENT.
Stephen
Gossett February 2, 2021 Updated: March 24, 2021
The
sunny, internet-born aesthetic continues to evolve online. What does
that mean IRL?
Scan
the #solarpunk hashtag on Tumblr or the 30,000-plus-member
r/solarpunk subreddit and you’ll likely encounter several examples
of a certain subgenre of architectural rendering: dramatically
geometric towers dotted with rooftop forests or tree-sprouting
condos, far easier imagined than built. Or you might see the 3D-art
cousin to such renderings — grander and greener still.
So
why, when I ask Jay Springett — longtime co-administrator
of solarpunks.net — about what solarpunk looks like in
practice, does he talk about an old phone box that was converted into
a seed library?
“That
wouldn’t be out of place in a solarpunk story,” Springett said.
“But also it’s real life”
The
humble example gets to the true crux of solarpunk. It centers
ecological responsibility, and it maintains a fundamentally DIY
impulse — community-minded, self-sustaining and, importantly,
hopeful.
Over
the last six or so years, solarpunk has graduated from an aesthetic
to something more akin to a practical movement, but it began in
earnest primarily as a visual vocabulary and literary subgenre of
science fiction. The “punk” suffix places it in a sci-fi lineage
that includes dieselpunk, steampunk and cyberpunk, but the vision and
iconography of solarpunk is dramatically different.
In
fact, Solarpunk is often framed specifically in opposition to
cyberpunk. Blade Runner and its brethren envisioned a dystopian
singularity and, as Springett has noted, were rooted in the
anxieties of the 1980s — urban decay, monolithic corporatism and,
in sadly xenophobic streaks, Asia’s growing influence. Solarpunk,
on the other hand, imagines a world in which today’s existential
threat — the climate crisis — is either resolved or being
approached with camaraderie and adaptive ingenuity.
In
fiction, protagonists might be working to rewild an Australian suburb
in the near future, or competing factions in a devastated landscape
might be uniting to disseminate sustainable innovations. Cover art
often favors the lush greenery and plant-like curves of Art Nouveau.
It’s not all unmitigated harmony — this is fiction, after all,
with narrative tension and dramatic obstacles. Still, a resolute
sense of optimism pervades.
In
the words of preeminent solarpunk thinker Rhys Williams, solarpunk
stands “against a shitty future.” The planet is on the clock, and
there’s just no time for fashionable pessimism, it implies.
Because
the climate anxiety the literary subgenre engages is so palpable in
the real world — “science fiction is really about now,” as
Margaret Atwood has said — solarpunk has come to encompass a
practical movement and subculture too. It considers how technology,
sustainable agriculture and reoriented social and economic systems
might help communities grapple with a world besieged by climate
threats.
Like
solarpunk the aesthetic, solarpunk the movement can seem almost
collagist in its wide-ranging scope. Renewable energies, solar power,
rainwater harvesting, DIY community gardening, decentralized
technologies and more all fit into the framework — though never
uncritically. Any ethically sourced, community-focused solution that
might stand resilient in the face of natural or manmade disaster will
likely get a look.
...
What
Does Solarpunk Look Like in Practice? | Built In
.
With
a view from a website which
“chronicles
technological progress by highlighting the breakthroughs, players,
and issues shaping the future“:
Solarpunk
Is Growing a Gorgeous New World in the Cracks of the Old One
.
SUSTAINABILITY
AND RESILIENCE:
.
Here's
how it looks from the “Red, Green and Blue” website:
.
Why “Solarpunk”
Gives Me Hope for a More Sustainable Future
“Minimum Viable
Planet” is a weeklyish commentary about climateish stuff, and how
to keep it together in a world gone mad.
BY SARAH LAZAROVIC |
Published
on February 6th, 2021
One
of my most oft-repeated climate maxims is “paint the positive
future.” We need to visualize what a sustainable, decarbonized
world looks like if we’re going to get people excited about climate
action (cue jazz hands and zero-carbon fireworks). But while there
are a few great examples hither and thither,
these positive visions of the future are not as plentiful as they
ought to be...
The point of solarpunk
is to start telling that new, creative story. Illustrating a world
where humans don’t live in opposition to nature, and where we also
don’t forfeit the advancements of modern life, but instead flourish
in harmony with the environment. The air is clean because we’ve
decarbonized. The soil is healthy, people are healthy, communities
are healthy. Food tastes better. People are happier. Technology
facilitates life without undermining it. There is no fascism, racism,
or autotune. The whole world is thriving to a catchy beat. (And
everyone is dancing all the time. OK, that part’s just me.)
My solarpunk is a mix
of kibbutz, absurdist art, rooftop gardens, mangroves, and Mary
Poppins. But seeing my daughter’s epic Minecraft creations (a
waterfall inside the house?), I realize how limited I’ve been
in envisioning this positive, sustainable future. In-home renewable
hydropower waterfalls for everyone. And fizzy water on tap. Can the
future please have carbonated drinking fountains?
Why
“Solarpunk” gives me hope for a more sustainable future | Red,
Green, and Blue
.
Here's
a piece from a freethinking science and tech website – with lots of
links:
What
Does a Solarpunk Future Look Like? | Freethink
.
IT'S
HAPPENING INTERNATIONALLY:
Future
Fiction propone un contest sul Solarpunk – InfoNerd
Taller
Online: Introducción al Solarpunk - La Opinión de Zamora
Technologie
s dračí tváří. Solarpunková utopie pro dnešní svět –
A2larm
.
And
it's happening in a place near you NOW:
Arts
project to set out how St Helens could look way into the future | St
Helens Star
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