Power
Reasons we think ‘Power’ is awesome! In 2024, the majority of power in the UK comes from centralised fossil fuel and nuclear plants owned by a smaller number of companies many of which are not based in the UK. It means that we are dependent on those who don’t have our best interests or the interests of the planet at heart.
This doesn’t have to be the way that it is. Every street could be a power station - generating it’s energy from the sun. Using the energy where it’s generated rather than loosing the power as it’s transmitted down cables long distance. This makes those communities wealthier, healthier and safer places to be and reduces reliance on systems beyond our control.
There are hundreds of community energy groups across the UK working to respond to this challenge increasing local people’s resilience and meeting the challenge of the climate emergency.
This project “Led by artist and filmmaker Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn involved the setting up of a community interest company Optimistic Foundation CIC committed to investigating and tackling urgent economic, philosophical and social issues through anarchic, joyful cultural production, bringing our community into the heart of the production process and turning hope into action”.
It shows us that the arts have the power to support communities to create new visions of the future and also to make tangible differences in people’s lives.
This text is copied from The fascinating and fabulous Power project’s website:
POWER is a ‘show and do’ project building a solar POWER STATION across the rooftops (streets, schools, community buildings) of North East London via enacting a grassroots Green New Deal - working with art and infrastructure to tackle the interlinked climate/energy/cost of living crises.
It begins on one street as template and provocation literally building POWER and possibility from the ground up. Inspired by a core solar punk idea of infrastructure as resistance and power we take a leap of imagination and give ourselves the power of Government to unleash an arts led stimulus to address the big challenge of our time: printing money (our ‘Greenbacks’) to fund infrastructure and build community wealth.
In this public work of art and action we share the trials and tribulations of building the POWER STATION in a membership site that becomes community and call to action. We film everything - highlighting and working through the complexities of taking action in the climate emergency—telling the stories of extractive processes, inequalities and injustice whilst attempting to tackle these as best we can on the ground.
This story will become an independent feature documentary film to be released in mid 2024 - quite literally exposing power, and creating a vision of public potential based on social solidarity in a time of crisis. Irreverent, anarchic, and joyful, the film POWER is an urgent call to action and manifesto for the democratisation of energy.
This is practical thinking through making—collaborating with people and photons to explore and expand our relationships with each other and the sun we all live under and challenge the power structures that tell us there is no alternative.