SOLARPUNK, designed and hand-hooked by Deborah Merriam
currently part of Focus On Fibre Art Association’s 'Climate Change' exhibit in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (until 3 July 2018)
Artist’s statement:
"Solarpunk is an emerging branch of environmental science fiction, art, and activism. I'm drawn to its do-it-yourself philosophy and its ideals of inclusiveness, adaptability, and hope in the face of climate change. My design imagines a near-future solarpunk city powered by renewable energy and built to withstand climate extremes.*
Inspiration: SUNVAULT, the first English-language anthology of solarpunk short fiction and poetry, was published in August 2017 by Upper Rubber Boot Press. "The oceans are rising and so must we," first appeared on a Science March protest sign in Washington on 22 April 2017.
Techniques: hand-hooked running loop stitch
Materials: wool flannel reclaimed from vintage clothing and new hand-dyed wool flannel on linen backing;wool yarn; solar panel and LED fairy lights
Dimensions: circular, 14 inches in diameter
Completed: April 2018″
*Since I have more room here, allow me to elaborate. Pre-existing concrete towers in this coastal city were retrofitted with green roofs and facades for growing food and sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, in addition to solar photovoltaic and hot water systems. Asphalt roads destroyed by extreme weather were replaced with multifunctional communal greenspaces with fully-accessible paths shared by solawheelers, pedelec and bike users, and walkers alike. Some former-freeway greenspaces feature geodesic-domed community gardens, algae bioreactors, and forested pocket neighbourhoods of treehouses and cottages like those shown here; others include public transit hubs, marketplaces, performance spaces, and weather shelters. All are designed to collect a portion of monsoon rains into hidden cisterns for purification while absorbing the rest. The land reclaimed from the sea by dikes is being used to grow crops, but also acts as a buffer to protect the city from future floods, and salt marshes are also being carefully replanted on the new coast. The red buoy marks a massive tidal power turbine on the seabed, placed in the old university’s quad, and doubles as a navigation marker to help boats avoid hitting the few submerged buildings still standing. The floating greenhouse is Acorn Aquaponics, a cooperative who produce tropical crops and a variety of seafood inside the dome while cultivating a nearby open-ocean kelp forest. Acorn also provides housing for seaplastic scavenge-build artisans and the marine biologists replanting the coral reef. An offshore wind farm built before seaswell still provides electricity to the city’s batteries when storms crater the light levels. Most new construction has rounded forms and uses new materials to minimize damage and protect residents from extreme winds, monsoon rains, polar vortexes, and heatwaves.
more photos here
This will be first in a series. The PV in this one is purely decorative; next time, I’ll install all the electronics before completing the hooking to ensure everything works.
