solarpunk dreams

I am an NZ maker of clothes, gardener, med student and solarpunk enthusiast. I hope this blog will involve opinions on solarpunk topics plus occasional original arts.

[phantomrose96]

Character-voice is I think one of the hardest parts of writing and here's two charts to explain my thoughts on why.

The intention:

The thing I think is maybe happening which I have no idea how to check or prevent:

[alcego-writes]

Use references.

I am not joking. Find some audio medium that features someone speaking with similar speech patterns to what you want for your character and translate that to your work. Podcasts, comedy shows, movies, you name it—just find someone whose voice/word choice/rhythm/etc. rings true and scavenge from them. Listen to them until you can summon their voice in your head and then write from that state of mind.

Our own mannerisms will inevitably leak into our work, of course, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is, in my opinion, often endearing. But if you want to whittle out a very precise, individual voice for your characters, then being familiar with how other people speak will be extremely helpful.

[renamonkalou]

[dvmplingmami]

renamonkalou:

The family home of architect Sami Angawi, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Holy shit….

[madgastronomer]

Real life solarpunk.

[madgastronomer]

I just read the links, and omg this is even better.

So I looked at it and knew it was using the open courtyard and the pools and fountains to do a lot of the work of cooling the house, but it’s also got drip irrigation for all of those plants (which adds more moisture to the air and also helps cool it in addition to being an effective and efficient way of watering the plants), it’s got a roof garden and other eco-conscious stuff. It combines modern construction techniques with classic Arabic art and architecture.

And his home is a cultural center.

He holds lectures, concerts and salons in his home, with guests and speakers from around the world. He’s founded multiple institutions to preserve Islamic history and architecture. He’s an activist against the extremist factions he says are trying to hijack Islam.

His home is going to be part of an international institute offering degrees in Islamic history and science, as his legacy, housing a collection of over one hundred thousands of his photos, drawings and writings about Islam and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

This is serious real-life Islamic solarpunk for real.

Tumblr likes the idea of solarpunk, even if there’s not a real body of work about it yet. Well, we’re missing that people are already doing this for real, and have been for a long time.

I am not generally an architecture fan. It’s nice and all, but it doesn’t do a lot for me, especially modern American stuff. But I am totally bowled over by this and must now go look at everything he’s ever designed.

[claygoblin]

The Silver Swan, built by John Joseph Merlin and James Cox, 1773.

Source: Mechanical Marvels, Clockwork Dreams (BBC)

[soundssimpleright]

oh wow, the “water” is an illusion created by spinning glass rods.

wooooooooooah

[wishfishy]

I will reblog this automaton every single time I see it because I adore it and you cannot stop me.

[halfahundredcats]

@elodieunderglass

[elodieunderglass]

Something i’m pondering at the moment is the idea of mechanism with motion, first set in motion 250-ish years ago, that can still move.

[solarfuture]

Parihaka Day

Today is the 135th anniversary of the invasion of Parihaka by Crown forces - November 5, 1881.

The story of Parihaka follows the pattern of indigenous communities around the world. In European settlement, the land in the Taranaki region of NZ was stolen by the colonisers (despite promises that it would remain Māori land).

Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi were leaders of a settlement at Parihaka, which was a model for peaceful resistance. They spent every night ploughing up settler occupied land and removing fence posts and road markers, so the settlers spent every day repairing what had been done in the night. Hundreds of men were arrested, and the laws were changed several times to allow them to be held without trial.(One group complained to Tohu that they had not been arrested after a night ploughing, and he told them that if they were dedicated enough they would be soon.)

When the Crown finally invaded Parihaka on the 5th November 1881, they found instead of a line of defenders, all of the children of Parihaka were playing and singing in the front, and the adults of the village sat quietly behind. The village was destroyed and the remaining men arrested.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

(more info here)

[projectsmart]

Don't be egocentric be planet-centric

Being inspired by the concept of biophilia, which is a term that describes humans inherent need to be exposure to the natural world, my colleges and I have been exploring innovative ways to think about nature in the smart city context. We have explored options such as vertical gardens that move around cities according to citizen needs and plants that can grown at any weather. We  soon realised how human-centric our ideas were. We all decided to take a turn from these ideas and look at nature from a different angle.

We tend to look at innovative solutions and designs from a human perspective. I wonder if this form of looking at the world is selfish and narrow-minded. How can we be sure that wonderful ideas can come only from human minds? Maybe it’s time to take the focus from ourselves and see what we can learn from other species. After all, they are capable of doing things that we have been trying to do for centuries, but have not yet succeeded. There are millions of species that have been on this planet for a lot longer than us and probably have more experience with survival techniques than us.

Nature does not have all the smart tools that we have. In fact, some of the resources that nature has, are constantly being damaged by us, humans. However, nature can still do what it is still unimaginable to us. Flowers like orchids for example can grow, bloom, go through a period of rest and rebirth again. There is a type of jellyfish that can actually age backwards. Isn’t this something that we  have been working on for centuries?

Feeling a little bit more connect to nature and with the idea of thinking differently about the world we live in, I have decided to a bit of research on initiatives that have challenged pre existing patterns and that lateral thinking has been demonstrated and applied. 

During my research I came across to the term biomimicry. I spent some time reading about it and I was amazed by the concept. Biomimicry is basically a practice that mimics strategies used by nature to solve existing problems. These strategies can be incorporated into the design of solutions to many challenges that our planet faces.

The idea is to learn from nature, and at the same time create empathy and a more harmonious world.

Another methodology I came across was ‘Planet Centric Design’. This is a method for designing that does not harm the planet. Planet centric design does not consider us, humans, to be the main focus on our planet. Humans are actually part of an interconnected system that should be understood, and considered when designing products or services.

Planet centric design does not consider only aspects such as economy, efficiency and innovation. It considers essential to think responsibly about how we design and the consequences of it to the interconnected system we living in.

This less anthropocentric view of the world does fit with some of the pillars of the smart city concept. When it comes to sustainability we do need to reflect on the current methods, business models and innovative initiatives that we currently rely on today. 

My research also made me reflect on the need of having a multidisciplinary approach when it comes to designing responsibly. To think laterally about complex problems and challenges that cities face today, and how we can best address them, requires different perspectives, experiences and knowledge.

[kaziusklasterzoroaster]

Solarpunk, and the state of America’s left-wing institutions

There are three decommidifying institutions in America. Only three - and of those, only one is completely decommodified and totally reliable.

The first is the most obvious: unions. However, unfortunately, unions have been crushed and/or co-opted. The only union that I trust without reservation is the IWW. They’re not perfect, mind you - they’re just reliably radical.

The second won’t surprise many of you, but mentioning it *will* piss some of you off: churches. Churches don’t require you to pay money to show up, though they will be pissy if you don’t. Churches are about the only community-unifying institution America has left. They don’t talk to their neighbors, they aren’t at the union hall, ect.: it’s all gone. This is what’s left.

The third is the only totally decommodified one: libraries. They’re providing more and more services as time goes on, too. Not just books. My current local one loans out seeds, has free coffee, rents time on its 3d printers, has a maker space, has gaming consoles for the teens, and I’m pretty sure they let the homeless sleep there over-night, on the down-low. This isn’t a rich library, either. It’s in a poor part of Ohio. Further, I’ve heard of libraries having larger maker spaces, renting out tools, loaning out laptops, ect.. If you can think of anything libraries sometimes do that I don’t mention, say so in the comments.

I feel that an honorable mention should go to gangs, as a source of dual power, community policing, and alternative income.

As far as solarpunk goes, consider how these institutions are involved in solarpunk communities.

What does a solarpunk church look like? How does it operate? Who’s the preacher/pastor/reverend/rabbi/imam/high witch/ect.. Who are they answerable to, what do they effect? How much of the community is co-ordinated in the various and sundry houses of god?

What does a solarpunk library look like? What are the most extreme things you can borrow from it? Guns? Clothing? Vehicles? Ect. Where does the library get its resources? The library is quite probably the most important building in the community - what can you get there: food? Beer? Drugs? Comradery? Political support? Just how much of a community space is it? It’s probably prestigious to be a librarian there - do people come from far away to be librarians? How is the library run? Is the head librarian an elected position, or appointed? Elected or appointed by who? Is there even a head librarian, or is there a friendly anarchy of librarians?

As for gangs and unions… what have they evolved into? How has their origin left stamps on the community?

[kawuli]

This person is my new best friend

Farming systems need to fit into their natural and social environment. Sometimes we describe this as a socio-ecological niche.

[radical-agriculture]

Permaculture and the Myth of Overpopulation

by Lisa Depiano When teaching permaculture I often start out by doing a giant problems mind map. I ask students to brainstorm all of the major “problems” they see in the world to reflect on what brought them to study permaculture. Nine times out of ten the idea of overpopulation as a root “problem” in […]

Six talking points to use when debunking the myth that overpopulation is the root of the environmental crisis:

1. Rates of population growth are declining: Between 1950 and 2000, the world population grew at a rate of 1.76%. However, between 2000 and 2050, the rate of growth is expected to decline to 0.77%.

2. Overpopulation is defined by numbers of people, not their behaviors: Industrialized countries, who make up only 20% of the world’s population, are responsible for 80% of the carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere. The United States is the worst offender, with 20 tons of carbon emission per person. Therefore, it is not the amount of people that leads to degradation, but what they are doing. Permaculture design illustrates how humans can have a positive impact on the health of our ecosystems, bringing greater health and equity.

3. Overpopulation justifies the scapegoating and human rights violations of poor people, women, people of color, and immigrant communities: Often times the subtext of “too many people” translates to too many poor people, people of color, and immigrants. This idea has been used to justify such practices as the forced sterilization of 35% of women of childbearing age in 1970′s Puerto Rico, under the control of and with funding from the US government. This is a human and reproductive rights violation. 

4. Overpopulation points the finger at individuals, not systems: This lets the real culprits off the hook. When we look at the true causes of environmental destruction and poverty, it is often social, political and economic systems, not individuals. We see militaries and the toxic legacy of war, corrupt governments, and a capitalist economic system that puts profit over people and the environment.

5. Supports a degenerative mental model of scarcity: Much of this ideology was created by Thomas Robert Malthus, an 19th century English scholar. Malthus gave us the erroneous idea that the reason there is famine is because there are too many mouths to feed. This hides the reality that we have a distribution problem, not a scarcity problem. Malthus’s work has been used as the philosophical bedrock to justify many human rights violations throughout history.

6. Focusing on overpopulation prevents us from creating effective solutions and building movements for collective self determination: Permaculture teaches us that how we define a problem determines how we design solutions. How does viewing overpopulation as a root problem impact the way we think of and design solutions? What would solutions look like if we viewed people, all people, as an asset? The myth of overpopulation has lead to solutions of population control and fertility treatments, rather than overall health care and women’s rights. The more we blame humans and think we are bad and evil, the harder it is to believe in ourselves, count on each other, and build a collective movement for justice and self determination.

[elodieunderglass]

THIS IS MY ULTIMATE JAM

This is IT

[solarpunks]

Is Ornamenting Solar Panels a Crime? - e-flux Architecture - e-flux

We’re Solarpunk because the only other options are denial or despair. —Adam Flynn

Dystopia may have become a luxury genre. Indulging in miserable future scenarios is not something everyone has time for. William Gibson recently repurposed his own adage, “the future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed” to say that “dystopia is not very evenly distributed” either.2 For most, the dystopias the privileged entertain themselves with are old news. In the current political landscape, “when we are all living in the shadow of at least half a dozen wildly science fiction scenarios,” to quote Gibson again, and while Hollywood harps on every version of paranoia to construct a thousand dystopias according to formula, dwelling on dystopia could be seen as downright lazy.3 Along with the resources to sit around and ponder the future of humanity, shouldn’t there come the responsibility to invent actionable proposals as opposed to cautionary tales?

Enter the coalescing movement called Solarpunk. In a 2015 blog post titled “Solarpunk wants to save the world,” writer Ben Valentine summarizes: “Solarpunk is the first creative movement consciously and positively responding to the Anthropocene. When no place on Earth is free from humanity’s hedonism, Solarpunk proposes that humans can learn to live in harmony with the planet once again. Solarpunk is a literary movement, a hashtag, a flag, and a statement of intent about the future we hope to create.”4

The first stirrings of Solarpunk emerged online around 2008, with a noticeable expansion around 2014. At least until now, its dispersed internet origins have mostly kept it from a single authoritative definition or decisive political bent. Some Solarpunks invoke the speciated futures of Donna Haraway and the disaster utopias of Rebecca Solnit, while others say their ideals fit squarely within the “wider tradition of the decentralist left”; some cite the sci-fi canon of the New Weird or Cli-Fi (climate fiction), one claims “post-nihilism,” and a recent book adds dragons to the mix.5 While this diversity of vision is the whole point, one also finds mention of the “core community of stewards who know who they are.”6 Like many born-digital movements, especially those tolerant of anonymity, Solarpunk grapples with what inclusivity means in practice. If everyone’s responsible for it, no one’s responsible for it, too.

(via Is Ornamenting Solar Panels a Crime? | e-flux)

Another fantastic long read on solarpunk this time in e-flux architecture. 

Includes quotes from a few of us here at @solarpunks but also @missolivialouise and others.

It follows other long read articles this year (2018) in Real Life Mag and the LA Review of Books

[solarpunkwitchcraft]

Conscious consumerism is a lie. Here’s a better way to help save the world

Choosing fashion made from hemp or grilling the waiter about how your fish was caught is no substitute for systematic change.

[autasticanna]

“Instead of buying expensive organic sheets, donate that money to organizations that are fighting to keep agricultural runoff out of our rivers.

Instead of driving to an organic apple orchard to pick your own fruit, use that time to volunteer for an organization that combats food deserts (and skip the fuel emissions, too).

Instead of buying a $200 air purifier, donate to politicians who support policies that keep our air and water clean.

Instead of signing a petition demanding that Subway remove one obscure chemical from its sandwich bread, call your local representatives to demand they overhaul the approval process for the estimated 80,000 untested chemicals in our products.

Instead of taking yourself out to dinner at a farm-to-table restaurant, you could take an interest in the Farm Bill and how it incentivizes unhealthy eating.”

[fandomsandfeminism]

Reminder that “there is no ethical consumption under late stage capitalism ” is a call to action, not complacency.

[phroyd]

[ultraviolet-techno-ecology]

People often joke about “Fully Automated Luxury Communism” however we already have the technology required to produce one of the most foundational elements - Fully Automated Vertical Farming. 

Agriculture is not simply “A Means of Production” but possibly the single most important means of production in existence. An immediate structured transfer toward vertical farming would have the following effects.

1 - An immediate reduction in land requirement for plant growth, allowing for massive rewilding projects across the world.  2 - A subsequent reduction in pesticide reliance, allowing for critical insect populations such as bees to begin repopulating and a reduction of soil toxicity.  3 - An end to exploitive “under-the-table” work practices which pay children and immigrants significantly less than minimum wage.  4 - A real solution to ending the phenomena of food deserts which primary affect impoverished and minority neighborhoods. 5 - A subsequent reduction in health problems relating to malnourishment and reliance upon fast food.  6 - A real way for the veg*n community to directly address the problems of inaccessibility of plant-based diets. (Imagine the potential for volunteer veggie kitchens which provide premade nutritious meals with local ingredients for the local in-need population.) These are just some of the positive benefits that could come from vertical farming. Obviously I haven’t even begun to touch on other subjects like the amount of jobs which could be created simply for creating the structures. 

[watsons-solarpunk]

And my personal favorite, high-yield farms in dense urban areas means food will barely need to be shipped – cutting like 10 percent of the carbon cost of keeping everyone fed!

[solarpunkowl]

Fantasy solarpunk 101

Dwarves live in reclaimed subways halflings live in earthships elves live in forest apartments orcs live in nomadic refirbed trailers with solar panels on the roof k thx bi

[solarpunkcast]

goblins and kobolds live in abandoned mineshafts to make sure they don’t collapse.

Trolls living under bridges purely for maintenance purposes: “hey man, I just need the toll to fix these girders relax”.

Faeries checking in on Beehives and other pollinators.

Ifrit/Jinn/genies living in cell and transmission towers to ensure consistent high-speeds.

Bugbears living in carved out trees, protecting and replanting forests.

[solarpunks]

GLASS AND GARDENS: SOLARPUNK SUMMERS

You may well remember World Weaver Press’s Kickstarter last year to fund the first English translation of the groundbreaking Brazilian anthology of science fiction stories set in sustainable future worlds The Solarpunk Anthology. 

The Kickstarter also raised enough to also fund the Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers anthology. Today World Weavers has announced the table of contents. 

Congrats to all the successful authors!

“Caught Root” by Julia K. Patt

“The Spider and the Stars” by D.K. Mok

“Riot of the Wind and Sun” by Jennifer Lee Rossman

“Fyrewall” by Stefani Cox

“Watch Out, Red Crusher!” by Shel Graves

“The Call of the Wold” by Holly Schofield

“Camping With City Boy” by Jerri Jerreat

“A Field of Sapphires and Sunshine” by Jaymee Goh

“Midsummer Night’s Heist” by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio

“Heavenly Dreams of Mechanical Trees” by Wendy Nikel

“New Siberia” by Blake Jessop

“Grover: Case #C09 920, ‘The Most Dangerous Blend’” by Edward Edmonds

“Amber Waves” by Sam S. Kepfield

“Grow, Give, Repeat” by Gregory Scheckler

“Cable Town Delivery” by M. Lopes da Silva

“Women of White Water” by Helen Kenwright

“Under the Northern Lights” by Charlotte M. Ray

Full details and author bios can be seen by visiting the announcement page. 

This anthology will be available sometime mid-summer 2018

[sunkeepersolarpunkmusic]

Imagine a third of the world becoming deserts. If that doesn’t bother you because you live in the desert, imagine the same scenario making your desert so dangerous you’ll just die if you stay there. Sounds like conditions on a different planet altogether right? Well, it’s the projected near-future for our very own planet Earth, and although it wouldn’t quite yet be the end of the world, the changes made would be drastic, horrendous and inhibiting for all flora and fauna across the globe, not just the humans causing the accelerated damage.

Cause a stir in your local area. Plant a seed of discontent with all of this so it will grow outward and bring change, because big powerful policy makers are ignoring our safe word and laughing about it all the way to the bank, but this joke isn’t funny.

[caitmayart]

“Sun”

From the show ‘What May Be’ at Tectonic Space in Baltimore!

[biodiverseed]

The demand for an ever-replenishing supply of cheap “fast fashion” has been a race to the bottom, in which factories outsource to the lowest bidders, resulting in human rights violations for the workers and unregulated pollution of the environment. In fact, fashion is the second-highest polluting industry behind oil.

“Who made your clothes? A ‘Slow Fashion’ revolution rises”

by Colleen Kane in Fortune

(via biodiverseed)