i brought it up as a counter example to the dispossessed on soviet sci-fi, before i ever called the dispossessed a foundational piece of solar-punk media
but i will agree that at the time, the concept of communism becoming a interstellar society was very real to those living in the USSR
in the material circumstance of ursula living in cold war era america, anarcho-syndicalism being applied to build socialism in a theoretical future interstellar capitalist system seemed much more plausible, which is also why the dispossessed had a second boost of popularity when solar-punk started up as a movement in between the dissolution of the USSR by capitalist encroachment and the rise of china as a second communist superpower
And that’s all fine, but my point is that these ideas are not expressed in the art itself. The original discussion is around the aesthetics of the movement. As I mention in the other reply, the constructive take away from this would be to flesh out the vision being presented using the source materials. Have the art associated with the movement encompass all aspects of the society being proposed. That would address the critique of the aesthetics being narrow.
i agree the ideas should be fleshed out more in general over time, but i disagree that the aesthetic is more narrow than the soviet sci-fi aesthetic, just that it is more that it is younger and more niche
soviet sci-fi as a movement was mainstream, made and consumed in AES, and worked off of the then real and plausible belief the soviet economic planning would eventually turn into interstellar communism
solar-punk as a movement while inherently against infinite growth and therefore capitalism, is much more niche due to existing in capitalism and state capitalism, much younger, and largely formed in hopeful reaction to the capitalist-realist dystopia. similar to acid communism it uses an eye-catching aesthetic to promote itself, it uses the aesthetic primarily to inspire hope in eco-socialists and combat activist burnout
i would largely say it is eco-socialism’s counterpart to soviet sci-fi, it imagines the world eco-socialism would create, working to inspire eco-socialists as soviet sci-fi inspired the soviets
Again, Soviet sci-fi aesthetic is itself a part of a broader Soviet aesthetic. It’s not an independent standalone movement that aims to differentiate itself from the rest of Soviet art.
i would largely say it is eco-socialism’s counterpart to soviet sci-fi, it imagines the world eco-socialism would create, working to inspire eco-socialists as soviet sci-fi inspired the soviets
And that’s fine framed that way. If you see solar-punk as a component of a broader movement I generally agree with you. I think fleshing out the imagery to be more grounded would be worthwhile, but the broader eco-socialist framework would provide the missing context here.
i deffo agree with both the soviet sci-fi aesthetic being a part of the broader soviet aesthetic whole, and more grounded depictions of solar-punk being worthwhile
i apologize in advance, the maximum comment depth was reached, this comment is a reply to https://hexbear.net/comment/6331483
i brought it up as a counter example to the dispossessed on soviet sci-fi, before i ever called the dispossessed a foundational piece of solar-punk media
but i will agree that at the time, the concept of communism becoming a interstellar society was very real to those living in the USSR
in the material circumstance of ursula living in cold war era america, anarcho-syndicalism being applied to build socialism in a theoretical future interstellar capitalist system seemed much more plausible, which is also why the dispossessed had a second boost of popularity when solar-punk started up as a movement in between the dissolution of the USSR by capitalist encroachment and the rise of china as a second communist superpower
And that’s all fine, but my point is that these ideas are not expressed in the art itself. The original discussion is around the aesthetics of the movement. As I mention in the other reply, the constructive take away from this would be to flesh out the vision being presented using the source materials. Have the art associated with the movement encompass all aspects of the society being proposed. That would address the critique of the aesthetics being narrow.
i agree the ideas should be fleshed out more in general over time, but i disagree that the aesthetic is more narrow than the soviet sci-fi aesthetic, just that it is more that it is younger and more niche
soviet sci-fi as a movement was mainstream, made and consumed in AES, and worked off of the then real and plausible belief the soviet economic planning would eventually turn into interstellar communism
solar-punk as a movement while inherently against infinite growth and therefore capitalism, is much more niche due to existing in capitalism and state capitalism, much younger, and largely formed in hopeful reaction to the capitalist-realist dystopia. similar to acid communism it uses an eye-catching aesthetic to promote itself, it uses the aesthetic primarily to inspire hope in eco-socialists and combat activist burnout
i would largely say it is eco-socialism’s counterpart to soviet sci-fi, it imagines the world eco-socialism would create, working to inspire eco-socialists as soviet sci-fi inspired the soviets
Again, Soviet sci-fi aesthetic is itself a part of a broader Soviet aesthetic. It’s not an independent standalone movement that aims to differentiate itself from the rest of Soviet art.
And that’s fine framed that way. If you see solar-punk as a component of a broader movement I generally agree with you. I think fleshing out the imagery to be more grounded would be worthwhile, but the broader eco-socialist framework would provide the missing context here.
i deffo agree with both the soviet sci-fi aesthetic being a part of the broader soviet aesthetic whole, and more grounded depictions of solar-punk being worthwhile
I’m glad we managed to reach a consensus in the end. :)