#post-oil

“With 10,000 uses, hemp is one of the most versatile plants to grow—and in many ways can be a catalyst for change for Native peoples. We see a New Green Revolution in Indian Country, tied to justice, economics, restoration ecology, and a return-to-the-land movement, and it’s growing.

22 March – 29 September 2013 Gallery 1 curated by Pippo Ciorra

In the wake of Recycle, the MAXXI continues its investigation of the relationship between architecture and the environment with Energy. The exhibition will examine the influence of energy on the configuration of the physical spaces we inhabit.

The exhibition will be comprised of three large section dedicated to past, present and future. The first will look at the immense heritage of “road architecture” in post-war Italy, delving into the archives, among others, of ENI, Italy’s national energy company; the second section will document the state-of-the-art in the relationship between the landscape and energy through the work of the three Italian photographers Paolo Pellegrin, Alessandro Cimmino, Paola Di Bello; in the third section seven international offices, invited to develop projects specifically for the exhibition, will investigate the influence that new scenarios of energy distribution will exercise on the city and spaces of human inhabitation: Guillermo Acuña Arquitectos Asociados (Chile); Lifethings (South Korea); MODUS architects (Italy); Noero Architects (South Africa); OBR Open Building Research (Italy); Sou Fujimoto Architects (Japan); TERROIR (Australia/Denmark).

From my perusal of the stacks at Barnes & Noble, I have determined that the majority of fiction dealing with Peak Oil and the decline of modern civilization is about the violent social upheavals that are sure to follow the disappearance of convenience.

These narratives are about the widespread changes that will happen, the 10,000-foot view of things: cities in chaos, rioting, looting, governments falling apart, that sort of thing. Many of these stories serve as warning signs of the coming fall, demonstrating what it will be like (in the eyes of that author) or demonstrating the sorts of skills that will be useful in the post-oil future.

I am bored of being warned and made to feel bad about my lifestyle, but I am not bored of the post-oil world. So here's my idea: Let's use that situation as a true backdrop and not as the reason for the story.

Here's my idea for a novel: A detective story set in a waning America, where the detective must solve the crime within the American justice system -- which is still there -- but without many modern conveniences: access to the Internet, unlimited travel, cellphones, electricity 24 hours a day.

I'm thinking a Maltese Falcon or Sam Spade sort of crime noir set in this future. The world may be falling apart around people and undergoing major changes, but life still must be lived and crimes must still be solved, so long as the city is paying the cops.