Solar Imaginaries: A Road Not Taken with Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller
The Road Not Taken with Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller
Swiss artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller will discuss their projects that bring energy histories into the present moment. Ahead of the program, participants will be granted access to Hemauer and Keller’s films Sun Engine No. 1 and The Road Not Taken. All will be encouraged to watch both films, read provided essays and submit questions for the artists in advance of the public program. The presentation will be followed by a Q & A moderated by PPEH Artists-in-Residents Kristen Neville Taylor and Ricky Yanas.
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: Kristen Neville Taylor Sharing Solar, 2019, Diagram from original drawing, Dimensions variable