The title’s a little blunt, but the message is more “what is Solarpunk art good for”, explaining how aesthetics can be co-opted, why art is important for the movement, but also some common criticisms of the aesthetic uses of solarpunk.
I was anticipating a negative take on Solarpunk based on the title, but it’s actually quite a well made video with good points. I do wish she had touched on the ideology behind solarpunk (Anarchism), but otherwise good stuff.
Over on the r/Solarpunk community on reddit, there’s often debates as to what constitutes solarpunk, with many arguing that AI and greenwashed buildings should count. I’ve even seen an argument for solarpunk being compatible with capitalism once or twice, and this video would make for a good rebuttal.
How does the megacorporate water and electricity wasting machine fit into solarpunk though?
Surely it’s antithetical to the nature of solarpunk given that (in my mind at the very least) the point of solarpunk is that it imagines the possibility of living a sustainable life with technology that isn’t destroying the planet.
I’m glad you said something. I don’t mind so much when pieces that are critical of solarpunk or a corruption of the aesthetic are occasionally posted here because it gives the community an opportunity to define itself against those representations. I tend to skip over them myself though. I think introspection and criticism are core to the Solarpunk ideal, and I’m glad this essay was a fresh carafe of that tea.
