Solar Imaginaries: Solar Panel: Community, Fantasy and Technology in Energy Futures
Solar Panel: Community, Fantasy and Technology in Energy Futures is a panel discussion moderated by Kristen Neville Taylor and Ricky Yanas between Nora Elmarzouky (cultural broker/organizer), Anthony Giancatarino (The Just Community Energy Transition Project), Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller (Artistic Duo, Collide Pro Helvetia Awardees), Rhys Williams (Lecturer in Fantasy Literature, Glasgow University), and others.
Panelists discuss strategies for re-imagining energy production in an urban setting and share their own wildest energy fantasies.
Solar Imaginaries: Play and Pragmatism in Energy Futures is a 3-part program that brings together practitioners from environmental and creative sectors to re-envision the role of energy in our lives. Through film, reading, discussion and a participatory workshop, we will collectively reimagine the road to renewable energy systems. The series will begin with a screening of Sun Engine No. 1, a film by Swiss artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller, based on their 2008 exploration of the Tacony section of Philadelphia, home to early 20th century solar pioneer Frank Shuman. In the second program, panel discussion will bring together creative and pragmatic voices to explore the imaginative possibilities of solar energy, especially in the context of struggles for racial justice, equity, and the pursuit of a just energy transition. The program will finish with a workshop where participants will pitch visions of alternate energy futures to practitioners in solar energy and the creative arts.
Solar Imaginaries is developed out of The Green Sun, an exhibition and symposium organized by Kristen Neville Taylor and Ricky Yanas and held August through September 2019. It is part of the Transition/Transformation annual theme of the Penn Program in the Environmental Humanities.
Image caption: Kevin McNamee-Tweed RGBC, 2017, Monotype on kitakata, 10.5” x 8.17”