My thoughts on the ‘Solarpunk is just aesthetics! Y’all can’t do anything!’ Statement
Every movement has some kind of visual identity. Every. Single. One. Now, those identities often evolve after the politics, but that’s not a rule.
Solarpunk was created as a way to directly oppose the grim, late stage capitalistic future we’ve been sold my cyberpunk for decades.
People saw this aesthetic and were able to look within it to see real change and action that could be made to get there.
Aesthetics give people something to identify with. But more importantly in this instance, they give us a collective vision to move towards.
Yes Solarpunk was an aesthetic, but no one said it ever had to stay that way. It is simultaneously our foundation and what we’re striving for.
So go take your stolen yogurt ad and fuck some shit up <3
“Science fiction is simply a way to practice the future together. i suspect that is what many of you are up to, practicing futures together, practicing justice together, living into new stories. It is our right and responsibility to create a new world.”
Everyone should read Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown
Visualizing an end result is the first step to undertaking any project. We can’t work towards something we can’t imagine
