Solarities – Thinking with the Sun

The Solar Media research group is excited to invite you to join them on September 21st, 2022 for a critical engagement with the possibilities and potentials of solar energy.

“What might a world look like if our societies, communications technologies, and economies were organized around energy from the sun rather than from fossil fuels? What new infrastructures, institutions, and power structures would such a transition require? What forms of creativity, collectivity, and social organizing might we need?”

Come and join them for an informal discussion about all these questions and more. Our conversation will be anchored in the work of two collectives who have been grappling with these questions:

• The Solar Media Collective is a group of researchers and makers interested in the question of how to reimagine energy and communications infrastructure for a low-carbon world. Among other things, they have been building a solar-powered server which will be used to host collaboratively developed art, games, and other material. The server will be on display at the event for participants to learn more and interact with. 
• The After Oil Collective is an interdisciplinary group of international scholars, students, artists, activists, and practitioners who came together in 2019 for a summer school focused on imagining a world powered by solar energy. The collective recently published a short book entitled Solarities: Seeking Energy Justice (read it free online at https://manifold.umn.edu/projects/solarities).  

The conversation will involve a roundtable discussion with members of the Solar Media Collective about solar energy and its promises, possibilities, and potential problems. We will then invite participants, contributors, and audience members for an open discussion relating to the themes raised by the roundtable. 

The discussion will be followed by refreshments. Please RSVP here.

*Please note that this is an in-person event that will not be streamed anywhere online.

Looking forward to seeing you there!