Solarpunk and the Networks of Mycelia - Vol 3 Sneak Peek
Leoni FRETWELL explores the ecological infrastructure of mycelia, and how we can apply these symbiotic networks to the future of our urban environments.
Article by: Leoni Fretwell
Artwork by: Caitlin Niamh
Within the layers of a forest floor, a dynamic mass of fine, thread-like filaments permeate the soil, used by fungi to transport nutrients across a vast network known as mycelium.
These structures grow as a result of their interdependence with the materials that sustain them and mycelium have even been identified as the largest living organisms on Earth. This symbiosis enables mycelia and surrounding organisms to thrive - within these conditions of reciprocity, there are many parallels to the artistic visions of Solarpunk.
As a cultural narrative, Solarpunk offers a hopeful vision of the future by interconnecting nature and community-centric technologies. There are growing representations of green and equitable urban futures, applying many of the regenerative systems we see in nature. When building infrastructures, how can we put community and ecology at the centre of our spaces?
Emerging in the digital age, Solarpunk is a product of the internet’s connectivity and community-building legacy, with its centricity in nature and liberation influenced by Indigenous, Afrofuturist and climate science fiction.
Solarpunk emerged as a direct response to the pessimism of dystopia in the early 2000s, presenting an alternate vision to extractive economics, and hope in the face of climate change. ‘Solar’ denotes the sun as a renewable energy source, while ‘punk’ reflects its countercultural influences of Cyberpunk, Steampunk and Dieselpunk.
As a speculative genre, Solarpunk reimagines our social structures by prioritising community, green technology, decentralisation, anti-capitalism, decolonial thinking and indigenous knowledge. As Michelle Tulmello, a Solarpunk art teacher has outlined, its key shift is from competitive to cooperative.
When we delve into the biological infrastructure of mycelia, these symbiotic networks can provide a framework for the way we think about our urban spaces.
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