Punky Futures
The future began in 1909—or, at least, futurism did. When Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti coined the word 'futurism', he imagined a world of speed, danger, and beauty. To him, this future could be found in the swift efficiency of the automobile. Today’s futurists look further ahead to artificial intelligence, space travel, and the blending of human and machine. Explore the origin and development of futurism, then discuss with your team: how is it different from science fiction—or is it? Should we value works that predicted futures that never came to be? Be sure to look into the two early futurist works listed below:
The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism by F. T. Marinetti is an article translated from Le Figaro Feb 20, 1909. This is written like a monologue of an enlightened youth eager to break free of the bonds of the past, reflecting on the present as the cusp of change. It is a bold declaration that celebrates modernity, speed, technology, and rebellion against tradition. ​
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The tone is angry, wild, chaotic and full of resentment for all things of the past, fervent to destroy and create a new future. The manifesto laid the foundation for Futurism as an avant-garde movement influencing art, literature, and politics, though its later association with fascism remains controversial.
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​MANIFESTO OF FUTURISM
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We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness.
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Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry.
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Up to now literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer’s stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap.
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We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.
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We want to hymn the man at the wheel, who hurls the lance of his spirit across the Earth, along the circle of its orbit.
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The poet must spend himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity, to swell the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.
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Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before man.
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We stand on the last promontory of the centuries!… Why should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed.
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We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman.
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We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice.
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We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot; we will sing of the multicolored, polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals; we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedy railway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents; factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of their smoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts, flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adventurous steamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chested locomotives whose wheels paw the tracks like the hooves of enormous steel horses bridled by tubing; and the sleek flight of planes whose propellers chatter in the wind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd.​
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It is from Italy that we launch through the world this violently upsetting incendiary manifesto of ours. With it, today, we establish Futurism, because we want to free this land from its smelly gangrene of professors, archaeologists, ciceroni and antiquarians. For too long has Italy been a dealer in second-hand clothes. We mean to free her from the numberless museums that cover her like so many graveyards.
"The oldest of us is thirty: even so we have already scattered treasures, a thousand treasures of force, love, courage, astuteness, and raw will-power; have thrown them impatiently away, with fury, carelessly, unhesitatingly, breathless, and unresting… Look at us! We are still untired! Our hearts know no weariness because they are fed with fire, hatred, and speed!… Does that amaze you?
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It should, because you can never remember having lived! Erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl our defiance at the stars!"
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In 1910, Giacomo Balla and four fellow Italian artists—Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916), Carlo Carrà, Luigi Russolo (1885–1947), and Gino Severini—wrote La Pittura futurista: Manifesto tecnico (The Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painters). In this document they rejected all previous art as prosaic. They argued art must capture the energy of the Industrial Age, emphasizing speed, technology, and perpetual movement. Famous quote: “A running horse has not four legs, but twenty” (illustrating their belief in dynamic multiplicity). This sentiment is reflected in both the title and the composition of Dinamismo di un cane al guinzaglio (Dynamism of a
Dog on a Leash). Balla’s painting embodies the manifesto’s principles by showing a dachshund and its owner’s legs in motion through repeated, swirling patterns (e.g., the dog’s flurry of legs, the leash’s arcs). The lively background, with its vibrating and contrasting streaks of pink and green, is said to represent the white dust of the Tuscan countryside shimmering under the bright summer sun. The blurring movement of the work visually translates the idea that “all things are rapidly changing,” transforming a mundane scene into a study of kinetic energy. The manifesto and works like Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash became iconic examples of Futurism’s obsession with movement, influencing later avant-garde movements (e.g., Cubism, Vorticism).
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Unique Forms of Continuity in Space is a 1913 bronze Futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. It is seen as an expression of movement and fluidity. The sculpture is depicted on the obverse of the Italian-issue 20 cent euro coin. The Futurist movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism in their art. Boccioni, though trained as a painter, began sculpting in 1912. His goal for the work was to depict a "synthetic continuity" of motion instead of an "analytical discontinuity" that he saw in artists like František Kupka and Marcel Duchamp.
“Let us fling open the figure and let it incorporate within itself whatever may surround it,” Boccioni exclaimed. Breaking with sculptural tradition, he opened up the silhouette of this marching figure, who forges ahead as if carved by speed. While the triumphant stance and armless torso evoke statues from earlier art history, the polished metal alludes to sleek new technologies. Boccioni was a central figure in the Futurist movement, whose members vehemently renounced the past in favor of creating forms that emulated the dynamism and ingenuity of the machine age.
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Boccioni's work was in plaster, and was never cast into bronze in his lifetime. The plaster casts and bronze casts are in famous museums around the world. In 2018, the sculpture was used as the basis of the trophy presented to the winner of the virtual Gran Turismo World Series sim racing competition held in the Gran Turismo series of racing games.
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Later artists and writers adapted futurism’s interest in technology to imagine liberation and empowerment for different communities. Research the history of Afrofuturism, from its origins in the Space Age to Marvel’s Wakanda Forever, then discuss with your team: what makes something 'Afrofuturist'? Could an artist be 'Asiafuturist' or 'Amerifuturist' instead? Consider the following selections:
Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry. While Afrofuturism is most commonly associated with science fiction, it can also encompass other speculative genres such as Afro-fantasy, fantasy, alternate history and magic realism, and can also be found in music.
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The term afrofuturism has its origins in African-American science fiction. Today it is generally used to refer to literature, music and visual art that explores the African-American experience and in particular the role of slavery in that experience.
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clockwise from top left: Sun Ra, Grace Jones, Beyonce, a work by Fanuel Leul, Lil Nas X, Afrika Bambaataa
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shuri / Black Panther. The film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) powerfully embodies Afrofuturism by blending African cultural heritage with advanced technology, speculative futures, and themes of liberation.
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Wakanda is a techno-utopian African nation untouched by colonialism, where tradition and hyper-advanced technology coexist. Challenges Western narratives of Africa as "backward" by centering Black scientific genius and self-sufficiency.
From the moment of its inception, the genre has been concerned with the promise and peril of breaking from modernity. The body of work loosely contained under the label of Afrofuturism exists within two radically distinct but conceptually overlapping timelines. The first encompasses the history of the United States but focuses its attention on slavery and its aftermath, traced all the way into the current century – the longue durée.
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Writing in 2003, the filmmaker and theorist Kodwo Eshun described Afrofuturism as a ‘program for recovering the histories of counter-futures’, a description which gets at both the power and limitations of the genre. What is lost? Through its often-totalizing understanding of actual history as endless suffering, the genre, in attempting to break with European modernity, breaks instead with the radicalism of actually-existing black modernism. In its worst instantiations, invocations of ideas about transcending all social, sexual and racial categories can often come across as cheap mysticism, reliant on supposed connections between black people and a mythic regal past that is alarmingly similar to the ideology of European fascism. This is a tendency to which Afrofuturism in its more celebratory modes falls victim.
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Kara Walker, ‘Prince McVeigh and the Turner Blasphemies’, 2021, video, colour, sound: original score by Lady Midnight, 12:06 minutes.
Ellen Gallagher, Ecstatic Draught of Fishes, 2021
Exploring memory and identity through science fiction at the Venice Biennale. “Entire nations are built on fairytales,” states the character Dunia, responding to Alia in a conversation about memory and the past in Larissa Sansour’s In Vitro. This two-channel film is part of her presentation Heirloom for the Danish Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Nat Muller.
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The black and white film opens with a wave of black oil rushing through the streets of Bethlehem. It encapsulates a sensation
Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind. In Vitro (2019) 2 channel black and white film. 27 mins 44 secs.
of destruction of all the blood lost and memories washed away. Along with transitions between archival footage and the narrative past of the character Dunia, we cannot forget the events of Bethlehem’s complex and turbulent history. The story is set after an ecological disaster of Bethlehem and life living underground—embedding its metaphor for a life suppressed but safeguarded from threat, while the Palestinian city can be reconstructed or restored. We see an orchard being replanted, cloning from the seeds that remained.
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The film’s title clues the viewer that the character has been made, and in fact a clone from remaining DNA after the disaster. Alia, the young clone of the scientist Dunia, argues with her about the lived and recollected experience. Dunia lays in her death bed dreaming to return to a past or her home rebuilt. We experience memories that Dunia clings to along with those that are collective and archived through the cloned existence of Alia. As a clone, memories have been implanted, and Alia carries the experience of others of a place bygone. As a new place rebuilds, Alia has a strong will for her own identity and experiences rather than the ones she inherited. The question of memory is brought to task and questions the necessity and the impact of nostalgia. Where does an individual’s memory begin and when is it reinvented by the stories of others? Dunia argues how “We were all raised on someone else’s nostalgia.”
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Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led The Arkestra, an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up.
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Born and raised in Alabama, Blount became involved in the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. He soon abandoned his birth name, taking the name Le Sony'r Ra, shortened to Sun Ra (after Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun). Claiming to be an alien from Saturn on a mission to preach peace, he developed a mythical persona and an idiosyncratic credo that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism.
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Space Is the Place (1974) is a feature-length film that stars Sun Ra and his band as themselves. The soundtrack, also by Sun Ra, is available on CD. The film follows Sun Ra after he returns to Chicago from many years of space travel with his Arkestra. In a meeting with "the Overseer" – a devil-like figure stationed in the desert – Sun Ra agrees to play a game of cards to "win" the black community. Sun Ra's goal is to transport the American black community to a new planet he discovered while on his journey, and that he hopes to use as a home for an entirely black population. The artist's mission is to "teleport the whole planet through music", but his attempts are often misunderstood by his supposed converts.
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Black Panther, Vol. 1 No. 4
Black Panther is a superhero created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, who first introduced the character in Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four #52 (1966.) The alter ego of T'Challa, genius ruler of the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda, Black Panther is considered the first black superhero to be featured in mainstream American comics. In 1968, he was added to the roster of Marvel Comics' super-group, The Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Many critics considered the film to be one of the best in the MCU and it was noted for its cultural significance. Black Panther was nominated for seven awards at the 91st Academy Awards, winning three, and received numerous other accolades. It was the first superhero film to receive a Best Picture nomination, and the first MCU film to win an Academy Award.
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Thousands of years ago, five African tribes warred over a meteorite containing the metal vibranium. One warrior ingests a "heart-shaped herb" affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first "Black Panther". He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form Wakanda. Over centuries, the Wakandans use vibranium to develop advanced technologies and isolate themselves from the world by posing as an underdeveloped country.
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Compared to the early comic book artwork, the new Black Panther artwork and design features Afrofuturism elements of science fiction and African heritage.
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Nightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released on 11 May 1981 by Island Records. Jones was a popular fashion model and Studio 54 habituée before starting her recording career.Nightclubbing (1981) is a groundbreaking post-punk and new wave album that fuses icy synth textures, reggae rhythms, and avant-garde pop, with Jones’ androgynous, hyper-stylized persona—reinforced by Jean-Paul Goude’s iconic imagery—challenging norms of gender, race, and identity. Tracks like Pull Up to the Bumper and the title song Nightclubbing exude a mechanized, almost alien coolness, blending human and robotic aesthetics. While not explicitly Afrofuturist, the album’s themes of self-
reinvention, its embrace of technology, and Jones’ defiant reclamation of Black queer power align with Afrofuturism’s spirit. As scholar Mark Fisher noted, Jones’ work “constructs a future that hasn’t arrived yet”—a core Afrofuturist tenet. Thus, though not a manifesto of the movement, Nightclubbing resonates with its ethos.
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Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), better known as Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper. This song comes from his third album Cosmogramma (2010). Coming from a musical family include singer-songwriter Marilyn McLeod and Alice Coltrane, he studied music as a child and went on to create his own music, rap and directing movies.
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"Galaxy in Janaki" is the 17th and last song on the album. Its creation has an interesting backstory. While his mother was in the hospital, Ellison brought in a mobile recording rig and set microphones around her room to gather audio samples, such as a respirator and vital-sign monitors. The samples were also used in the closing track "Galaxy in Janaki", a tribute to his mother. On the process of recording his mother's respirator,
Ellison said: "I know it was a weird thing to do. I'm not the type to go out recording things like that. But I didn't want to forget that space." When asked where the title came from, he said: "that's the term my aunt gave my mother. It means mother as well." The 1972 Alice Coltrane album World Galaxy features tracks titled "Galaxy in Turiya" and "Galaxy in Satchidananda".
King of my city, king of my country, king of my homeland
King of the filthy, king of the fallen, we livin' again
King of the shooters, looters, boosters, and ghettos poppin'
King of the past, present, future, my ancestors watchin'
King of the culture, king of the soldiers, king of the bloodshed
King of the wisdom, king of the ocean, king of the respect
King of the optimistics and dreamers that go and get it
King of the winner's district and geniuses with conviction
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King of the fighters, king of the fathers, king of the belated
King of the answer, king of the problem, king of the forsaken
King of the empathy, your resentment, king of remorse
King of my enemies, may they fall defeat, I rejoice
King of the skyscrapers, dodgin' haters, broke religion
Nine faces, go against 'em, I erased 'em with precision
I embrace them with collision, kings did it
King's vision, Black Panther, King Kendrick, all hail the king!
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Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to receive the award.
Lamar produced the album in 2018 featuring many innovative song and music critics consider Black Panther: The Album to be a milestone achievement, giving praise towards its lyrics and cultural significance. It spent two consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200,and earned the most single-week streams for a soundtrack album in history. The song Black Panther honors his heritage as an African American and how they have survived through oppression and defeat but still he is full of pride as King Kendrick.
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Cyrus Kabiru (born 1984) is a Kenyan visual artist, who is self taught. He is known for his sculptural eyewear made of found objects,and is part of the Afrofuturism cultural movement. Cyrus Kabiru was born in 1984 in Nairobi, Kenya; one of six children who lived in a small home
opposite a garbage dump. Inspired by a story about his father repairing glasses with discarded materials, he became interested in creating objects by upcycling found objects and trash.
Kabiru's particular usage of discarded materials—often electronic parts, junk or other debris—is meant to evoke a sense of cyberpunk futurism with some visual similarities to African jewelry and mythology. Identifying as an Afrofuturist, he aims to construct his works in a way that combines science-fiction and traditional aesthetics, maintaining a consistent personal style.
Miyale Ya Blue (2020) is a 60 x 65 x 15cm. assembled sculpture made with electronic waste and junk-like materials, decorated with vibrant coloration and noticeable adornments, and is one of a series of sculptures that resemble custom-fashioned radios. Kabiru drew inspiration for this series from his own personal experiences with transistor radios; this specific piece gets its name from the Swahili word 'miyale' (meaning 'rays') to invoke the rays of the sun.
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Solarpunk offers a more optimistic vision of the future, one in which technology and nature exist in harmony rather than conflict. Consider Sim City 2000’s arcologies, futuristic mega-structures designed to support entire communities. In the real world, solarpunk can inform anything from architecture to game design. Consider the following works. How do they convey a feeling of optimism about technology and the future, and have any solarpunk dreams been realized? Discuss with your team: would you like to live in a solarpunk future?
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This blog talks about the developments in the solar technology industry ranging from the decreasing prices of solar panels to the agricultural regeneration. Not
exactly sure which article WSC is referring to, so, have a scan of all the recent articles.
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Solar punk is a visionary movement and aesthetic that combines sustainability, renewable energy, and social justice with a hopeful, eco-friendly future. Rooted in both science fiction and real-world activism, it envisions societies powered by clean energy, where technology harmonizes with nature rather than exploiting it. Solar punk embraces decentralized systems, green architecture, and community-driven solutions, often depicted through vibrant, nature-infused art featuring solar panels, vertical gardens, and eco-conscious designs. Unlike dystopian narratives of doomerism, it offers an optimistic alternative, emphasizing resilience, creativity, and cooperation in the face of climate change.
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The philosophy behind solar punk extends beyond aesthetics, advocating for anti-capitalist, egalitarian values and a rejection of fossil fuel dependency. It encourages DIY ethics, local resilience, and regenerative practices, blending advanced technology with traditional ecological knowledge. Art, literature, and grassroots projects inspired by solar punk often showcase diverse, inclusive communities thriving in balance with their environment. By merging practicality with idealism, solar punk serves as both a cultural critique and a roadmap for building a just, sustainable future.
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Arcologies are futuristic self-contained cities where a huge population is all contained in one building. Arcologies are featured in SimCity 2000, SimCity Creator for Nintendo DS, and SimCity (2013). SimCity 2000 features 4 arcologies. They are available once the player reaches a population of 120,000 Sims and once the player is in the year when they are invented. They have a rating from F to A+.
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"The Plymouth Arco is "Solid as a Rock", or so claims Plymouth Arcologies, Inc. It is known that they have stood through several earthquakes, notably in the NeoRepublic of Mexico and the Taiwan CoProsperity Region. Plymouth Arcologies are designed primarily to support heavy industries, as witness Greenland Motors, maker of the Narwhal 3000. This might not be such a good choice if you are overly concerned about pollution."
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Available at around the year 2000. Price §100,000. Holds 55,000 residents. The only arcology to emit mild pollution into the atmosphere.
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"The Forest Arcology is named for its attractive forest setting on the top level. Throughout the structure, citizens utilize recycling, operate ecologically sound industries, and maintain a rich verbal heritage that replaces television and radio. Unfortunately, the youth of Forest Arcos are bored silly and roam out into your city where they stare mindlessly at soap operas and sports programs displayed in the electronics department at local malls."​
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Available at around the year 2050. Price §120,000. Holds 30,000 residents.
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"'Darco' is slang for "De-Urbanized Arcological Construct". Originally designed by the twisted genius of Dante McCallavre, the artist/architect proclaimed it a reactionary response to the rigid, archetypal Arcologies of his day. No one really knows what this means, and many engineers are frankly baffled at how the thing stays standing. Inside, the ill-lit corridor's twist into odd, meandering corkscrews that mysteriously turn back on themselves. There are rumors that a strange sub-species of man inhabits the air ducts."
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Available at around the year 2100. Darcos cost §150,000 and can attract up to 45,000 brave souls.
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"'Launch' Arcologies were nicknamed for their resemblance to modern orbital launchers. The resemblance is not entirely coincidental, as sophisticated methods of biological support were necessary to oxygenate and feed the thousands of inhabitants. While never tested, the manufacturers claim the occupants could stay self-contained for up to two decades. The sides of the Arcology are equipped with vernier jets to stabilize the structure during storms and earthquakes. A small nuclear facility independently powers the building; spare energy is stored by electrolyzing water into two tanks for oxygen and hydrogen."
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Available at around the year 2150. The 'Launch Arco' is the largest, costing §200,000 and holding 65,000 inhabitants.​​​
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Plymouth Archology
Forest Archology
Darco Archology
Launch Archology
“Solarpunk architecture” is generally characterized by grand, swooping biophilic structures replete with vertical forests and solar panels, and in which people live in happy harmony with nature. These renderings evoke a utopian future that might be mistaken for science fiction. But the impressive graphics belie a serious political and social movement intent on taking architecture into a radically greener, more sustainable direction. Solarpunk visualizes a world detached from capitalist incentives, where humans use high tech and low tech in equal measures as tools for social and economic equality, and urban environments are designed to restore natural ecosystems threatened by climate change.
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​Solarpunk seeks to promote a drastically different approach to the architecture of the 21st century. It argues that the architectural styles of today — the ubiquitous, gleaming, sleek, minimalist towers of steel and glass, for instance — have either failed to address the climactic threats to our planet or have made things worse. At present, the closest thing stylistically to Solarpunk architecture might be Singapore’s Garden City: a political initiative introduced by Lee Kuan Yew in 1967 to transform the dense city into an urban environment brimming with greenery. In recent years, Singaporean architecture has produced dozens of stunning projects evoking the Solarpunk ethos: the Supertree Groves, the Cloud Fountain, the Jewel Changi Airport and the Marina Bay Sands are but a few prominent examples. “Singapore minus cars = Solarpunk”. Singapore regularly ranks in the top 10 greenest cities in the world.
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These buildings are stunning but they are all looks. It’s instead the city’s half-century long list of green policies that do most of the heavy lifting. Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, for instance, sets goals like setting aside 50% more land for green spaces and planting one million more trees throughout the city over the next decade.
Solarpunk risks becoming a style without principles; a “green” architecture without green policies. Worse still, the movement could easily be co-opted by developers eager on giving the impression that their projects are environmentally sustainable while they continue to rely to carbon-emitting materials and energy-intensive design principles.
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Solarpunk are also being trendy in video games. Some games take place in worlds where humanity has already acted to solve the climate crisis, and it’s possible to live a peaceful life without fossil fuels. Engaging with these worlds can help players Imagine a Sustainable Future.
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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The film received critical acclaim, with praise being directed at the story, themes, characters and animation. It is commonly regarded as one of the greatest animated films. It is a post-apocalyptic fantasy film set in a world ravaged by ecological collapse. Centuries after a catastrophic war, toxic jungles spread across the Earth, inhabited by giant insects, while humanity struggles to survive in isolated pockets. The story follows Nausicaä, a compassionate princess who seeks to understand the polluted ecosystem rather than destroy it. Through her journey, the film critiques humanity’s self-destructive tendencies, militarism, and exploitation of nature, while offering a vision of coexistence with the environment. The Valley of the Wind itself embodies solar punk ideals—a small, sustainable society powered by windmills, living in harmony with its surroundings.
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​​The film’s message aligns closely with solar punk’s core themes: rejecting industrial domination, embracing symbiotic relationships with nature, and fostering empathy over violence. Nausicaä discovers that the toxic jungle is not an enemy but a cleansing force, purifying the planet’s poisoned soil—a metaphor for nature’s resilience and humanity’s need for humility. Unlike dystopian narratives that revel in despair, Nausicaä offers hope, suggesting that redemption lies in understanding and cooperation rather than control. Its lush, hand-drawn animation and emphasis on renewable energy, community, and ecological balance make it an early and enduring example of solar punk storytelling.
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Gojira is a French heavy metal band from Ondres. Founded as Godzilla in 1996, the band's lineup - brothers Joe (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Mario Duplantier (drums), Christian Andreu (lead guitar), and Jean-Michel Labadie (bass) - has
been the same since the band changed its name to Gojira in 2001. Gojira has been known for its progressive and technical death metal styles and spiritual, philosophical, and environmentally themed lyrics. The band has gone "from the utmost obscurity during the first half of their career to widespread global recognition in the second". Recently, they performed for the opening of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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​Gojira is well known for environmentalism, and have used their lyrics and music videos to highlight climate change, marine pollution, and deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. The song "Global Warming" explore human impacts on the environment. Even though the lyrics start with a pessimistic view about "A world is down and non can rebuild it. Disabled lands are evolving." The lyrics end on a positive note that "Now see a new hope is growing inside. We will see our children growing."
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Overwatch is a team-shooter game that weaves environmental and technological themes into its lore and world-building, offering both utopian hopes and dystopian warnings about sustainability. The game’s setting—a future Earth recovering from war and ecological crises—reflects real-world tensions between technological progress and environmental responsibility. The conflict between humans and omnics (sentient robots) stems partly from economic inequality and resource competition, mirroring real-world tensions over energy and labor. It is overall positive, promoting renewable energy, scientific research, and coexistence.
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Renewable Energy & Green Cities & sustainability-themed characters:
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Oasis (Iraq): A hyper-advanced city run by scientists, powered by clean energy (visible solar panels and futuristic architecture). However, it’s also elitist, hinting at inequitable access to sustainability.
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Ilios (Greece): Features wind turbines and solar arrays, blending ancient architecture with eco-tech, suggesting a harmonious future.
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Lúcio’s Story: A freedom fighter who overthrew Vishkar Corporation’s oppressive energy policies, promoting decentralized, community-owned power.
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Eco-Point: Antarctica (Map): A research station studying climate change, mirroring real-world scientific efforts.
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Mei’s Character: A climatologist who wakes up to a world altered by ecological disaster, symbolizing the urgency of environmental action.
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The story is set in the radiant city of Um-Helat, a stark contrast to oppressive societies. Here, equality is enforced with fervor: "This is a land where no one hungers, no one is left ill, no one lives in fear, and even war is almost forgotten." The citizens actively reject bigotry, so much so its shocks "young citizens of Um-Helat is the realization that, once, those differences of opinion involved differences in respect." However, this paradise is not passive—its people and social workers must constantly “stay and fight” against the creeping shadows of injustice, both within and beyond their borders.
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Jemisin’s story inspires us to practice these approaches, of caring for those even guilty of crimes, and that violence should not be the first option to solving issues. Through the setting of this utopia, Jemison highlights the importance of treating others equally, even on a moral sense. Calling the reader ”friend," she pushes us to look past our judgemental lenses of ill-intent and constant deception and see the utopia for what it is - a community that was once like ours but actually worked to become so welcoming and good. At the end, she offers us a hand, symbolizing us rejecting our negative evilness and to strive towards a community like Um-Helat. Overall, the story resonates a sense of hope that humanity can resolve all its qualms and become a better version of ourselves.
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[Chorus: PJ]
I been dreaming of a paradise
Somewhere a little Paris-like where I wanna be
Let's travel to the greener side
A lovely place inside my mind, don't you want to see?
[Verse 1: Common]
Imagine layers in a game where we all players
No more stargazing or police car chasing
Imagine life that bring us Lauryn Hill-type of singers
Even the righteous schemers still let Christ redeem us
Life is greener on this side, the bеauty that we see
Be coming from inside, imaginе if
You a God and she a goddess
My people get free, locked up from weed charges
We no longer targets or bodies on the market
Clean water coming out of Flint faucets, it's awesome
Not being petty, but got petty cash
Everything on the path we already have
Imagine having a woman like Betty Shabazz
Steady with class, ready to blast 'til the chariots pass
To take me to my new destination
I think in miracles, it's my imagination
After multiple collaborations throughout the years, and most recently on the 2020 album A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1), Chicago hip-hop legend Common and soul singer PJ unite once again on the laid-back and uplifting track “Imagine.” In the music video, PJ fantasizes about a care-free and welcoming place for all, while Common delivers a couple of inspirational verses detailing his hopes and dreams for a better world and spiritual rebirth.
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In the music video, Common visits many people in the local Chicago community that need help and presents a positive and hopeful message about change away from discrimination, poverty and lack of education.
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Terra Nil is an intricate environmental strategy game about transforming a barren wasteland into a thriving, balanced ecosystem. Bring life back to a lifeless world by purifying soil, cleaning oceans, planting trees, and reintroducing wildlife, then leave without a trace.​ Players place number of buildings on the landscape to terraform. Wind turbines provide power, but can only be placed on stone tiles. These are used to power toxin scrubbers, which prepare the soil for irrigation. Water pumps are used to refill dried river beds, while additional tools allow the player to create new rivers anywhere on the map and new stone tiles on select river beds.
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For each tile which is converted from wasteland into lush ecosystem, the player is rewarded with points, which can be spent on further buildings and upgrades. In the 2nd stage of the game, players can upgrade existing buildings to create biomes such as wetlands, wildflower meadows and dense forests. Restoring these biomes will cause herds of deer, flocks of birds, schools of fish and lone wandering bears to populate the map.
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The unique selling point of the game comes in the 3rd phase - the player is tasked with recycling the buildings they have placed in order to create an airship. They will leave the map, leaving no trace of their presence; just a rewilded paradise. - Terra-Nil
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The Wind Farmer is a beautiful fantasy eco-animation by Christian Holland, an American 360° Visual Artist, Creative Project Manager, and Digital Producer. Over the years, he has found success in the Visual Media landscape working closely with notable clients, artists, and art studios/agencies, such as H+ Creative, on worldwide commercial, creative projects, campaigns & exhibitions. His personal artwork blends vibrant, dynamic landscapes, futuristic technology, fashion and architecture immersed into a signature style. His latest "Sol.ar.punk" Project explores eco-oriented visions of a world in harmony, drawing inspiration from nature, green innovations, and timeless aesthetics -- all with a commitment to inspiring a more imaginative, sustainable future. This work features various types of renewable energy and high tech elements, including solar panels, wind turbines, recycled airplane part, and a golden robot. The butterflies and trees imply that these new tech have given the earth an ecological rebirth.
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This is a song that describe the passion and revolution of SolarPunk, full of optimism and vivid imagery of the wonders of eco-life under a blue dome. The singer is a group of driven eco-warrior, flourishing in a new green revolution community. Some of the key technologies and concepts described include mighty wind turbines, harness the sky, vertical farms, tech and nature intertwining, energy streams, solar energy, artful living in a green oasis. The song beckons all the young people to unite together to champion a greener way of living and believes that eco-technology can change the world for the better in a more powerful, harmonious, and beautiful way.
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Deep in the fissures that plague Koreatown, Christina’s search for her sister reveals something new.
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In this dystopia, a deep fissure occurred in Koreatown that turns it into a land of desolation and poverty. The protagonist is Christina who is a young woman working in a BBQ shop. She takes care of her younger sister, who is in middle school named Sadie. Due to low socioeconomic conditions, their environment has not been ​
enjoyed any of the ecological changes and suffers from dust. Her sister has asthma because of the dust from the fissure. Thus, she even has to remove her uniform with its BBQ smell and dust fibers before entering the house. All around them is concrete and rubble without much signs of greenery, adding to their depression.
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In the story, Christina returns home to find her sister missing and a strange man in her sister's bedroom. The man turns out to be her sisters climate solutions teacher, Mr. Dafydd Park-Llewelyn. His mother's side originated from Koreatown nearly a century ago. Because Sadie was missing from school, he comes to check in on her. Through small talk with Dafydd, Christina realizes that her sister is a student-activist and Greenie, a kid who really likes nature and ecology. Tracking her sister through the wrist watch which only shows location but not vertical dimensions, they first go to the roof of the apartment. On the roof, they find a wonderful rooftop garden with many varieties of vegetables. "It is more green than Christina has seen in her 25 years of life combined, more green than she thought was left in the world. A rarefied, spectacular green, not the pasty hue of the genetically engineered Vegetable Supplement or the hungry neon of the algae gnawing at the surface of the L.A. river, but all of those hues combined along with several hundred more." The people of the community work there speaking English, Korean and Spanish. All around she discovers evidence of her sister's involvement, but her sister is not there. ​​
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Without any choice, Christina and Dafydd head toward the fissure and start a horrifying descent without any proper equipment. As sunlight disappears as they climb lower and lower, they feel bits of mist sprinkling being on them. It turns out to be Sadie with other teenagers, planting a garden at the bottom of the chasm. They have discovered the dirt below the layers of pipes, concrete, debris and construction. Through their hard work, a promising garden is flourishing, even with threatened species. This turns the chasm formerly a wasteland and sign of techology decay into a haven and a place of hope. The story has a happy ending Christina finding Sadie and Dafydd finding his family roots.
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The atompunk movement imagines what the world would have been like if the “Atomic Age” after World War II had continued to flourish on to the present day. Explore works in this style, including the Fallout video game and TV series along with those below, then discuss with your team: would you want to live in an atompunk vision of the present?
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Atompunk is a futuristic aesthetic focused on how the world would have evolved from the nuclear age of the 1950’s and 60’s. In this timeline the transistor is never invented. This is therefore a future without the digital age. Instead of computers growing smaller and smaller, technology is larger and clunky. Every screen uses cathode ray technology rather than the LED screens we have become accustomed to. It is a representation of the future envisioned during the 1950s in the US.
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This aesthetic was introduced during the 1950’s and 1960’s in cold war America. This was a world scared of communism and in love with space and the nuclear age. Born in the wake of World War II, there was a strong national pride focused on the advancement of technology. The atom bomb had been dropped on Japan, ending the war. Therefore, the US public became obsessed with the unique power their country wielded. This image helps give context to the obsession’s the American public had with nukes and nuclear energy. They saw this as the way we would power the new world. During the 50’s there was even a tourism aspect to nuclear tests. You could buy a ticket to witness the explosion of a nuke outside the city limits of Las Vegas.
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The atompunk aesthetic takes the obsession of nuclear power and combines it with the futuristic aspects of the space race. The Jetsons was a nuclear family in a nuclear age. Superman comics from the 50’s also begin to introduce audiences to this style of art and design where heroes fight in space against atomic weapons. ​In the past 10 to 15 years there has been an Atompunk revival. Numerous video games like the Fallout series or Call of Duty have incorporated this style into their world design. A futuristic robot tends to the star before her big show. In the background there is nuke poster and she drinks “Nuka Cola”.
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The Call of Duty game Black Ops II even features an entire map called Nuketown 2025. The cartoon show Dexter’s Lab features a small suburban house surrounded by a hyper futuristic city. The city sky line is dotted with rockets and nuclear power plants. The city is decorated in the Atompunk style. A real-life example of Atompunk is the Space Needle in Seattle was built in 1962 to resemble a flying saucer from a UFO. If the Internet was not invented would nuclear power dominate our world and make it greener, safer and more peaceful?
Vern Partlow (May 25, 1910 – March 1, 1987) was an American newspaper reporter and folk singer who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He composed the popular satirical song "Old Man Atom," which was famously banned during the period. It is ​​
considered one of the first anti-nuclear songs of the post-war era. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, many people feared what might happen if a general nuclear war broke out, and a number of protest songs were written in protest of this new danger. ​Partlow had interviewed nuclear weapons scientists for the Los Angeles Daily News in the early fall of 1945. They had told him what the effects of a nuclear war might be like, which deeply alarmed Partlow. Before the end of the year, he had written a talking blues song titled "Old Man Atom."
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The song treats its subject in comic-serious fashion, with a combination of black comedy puns (such as "We hold these truths to be self-evident/All men may be cremated equal" or "I don't mean the Adam that Mother Eve mated/I mean that thing that science liberated") on serious choices to be made in the nuclear age ("The people of the world must pick out a thesis/Peace in the world, or the world in pieces").
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The Sons of the Pioneers covered this song in1950. Lyrics referring to the United Nations and non-English-speaking countries building their own nuclear arsenals were changed in the Sons of the Pioneers recording, and replaced with blander lyrics about people coming together to end the threat of nuclear war.
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The Golden Gate Quartet (a.k.a. The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet) is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active. They became popular in the 40s and 50s and later migrated to Europe to perform and tour. The song makes a pun at the name Adam and atom and Eve and Evil, describing how the technology has gone astray and could "gamble with Humanity's fate." The song has a negative outlook at the impacts of nuclear bombs and believes that man's obsession with it is going down a bad bath of "prejudice and hate. It predicts the end to be boom boom, doom!
Atom and Evil
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Now brothers and sisters
I'm troubled to say
Brother Atom is gone astray
Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen
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This is the story of Atom and Evil
Their courtship is causin' a great upheaval
Now Atom was a sweet young innocent thing
Until the night that Miss Evil took him under her wing
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Now Atom was an honest, hard workin' man
He wanted to help out the human clan
But Miss Evil got him drunk on prejudice and hate
And she taught him how to gamble with Humanity's fate
(So true!)
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I'm talkin' 'bout Atom, and Evil
Atom and Evil
If you don't break up that romance soon
We'll all fall down and go boom, boom, boom!
Now if Evil gets Atom, 'twill be such a shame
Because a-plenty of big shots are playin' that game
Now his sleep will be troubled, and his life will be cursed
Now, if Atom plays with evil, Jack, he won't be the first
(So true!)
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The Five Stars originally formed as The Emeralds in 1956, changing their name to Five Stars because they were advised there were several groups using The Emeralds. The same held true for the name Five Stars, as it turns out. However, this band etched its name into the permanent record by releasing a track “Atom Bomb Baby” that is forever connected to the late 1950’s atomic bomb scares.
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Got a doll, baby, I love her so
Nothing else like her anywhere you go
Man, she's anything but calm
A regular pint sized atom bomb
Atom bomb baby, little atom bomb
I want her in my wigwam
She's just the way I want her to be
A million times hotter than TNT
Atom bomb baby loaded with power
Radioactive as a TV tower
A nuclear fission in her soul
Loves with electronic control
"Atom Bomb Baby" is a song by The Five Stars, is also featured on the album "Atomic Platters: Cold War Music from the Golden Age of Homeland Security," released in 2005. The track gained renewed popularity through its inclusion in the video game Fallout 4, which introduced it to a new generation of listeners. The lyrics of "Atom Bomb Baby" are rich with metaphor and playful imagery, creating a vivid picture of love and attraction. The central metaphor compares a girl to an atomic bomb, suggesting that she possesses an explosive charm that's a million times hotter than TNT.
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​Thomas Andrew Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He was considered a child prodigy and entered Harvard College at age 15 to study mathematics, while still writing satirical comedic song. He recorded pithy and humorous, often political songs that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His songs often parodied popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies. He taught math at prestigious universities for years and he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1955 and served until 1957, working at the National Security Agency (NSA). He returned to math after serving and continued to perform locally. Because his songs were often controversial, he did not get much airtime in the US. He finally gained popularity when he released his albums in the UK and touring in Europe and around the world.
The song "So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III) was released in his album "That Was the War That Was". The song's theme included nuclear war, mutually assured destruction, nostalgia over past wars, and television news coverage. Lehrer introduced it thus: "This year we’ve been celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the civil war and the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of World War I and the twentieth anniversary of the end of World War II. So all in all, it’s been a good year for the war buffs. And a number of LPs and television specials have come out capitalizing on all this nostalgia, with particular emphasis on the songs of the various wars. I feel that if any songs are gonna come out of World War III, we’d better start writing them now. I have one here; you might call it a bit of pre-nostalgia. This is the song that some of the boys sang as they went bravely off to World War III."
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After his music career, he continued to teach math and musical theater in UC Santa Cruz. In October 2020, Lehrer transferred the music and lyrics for all songs he had ever written into the public domain.
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​So long, mom!
I'm off to drop the Bomb
So don't wait up for me
But while you swelter
Down there in your shelter
You can see me
On your TV
While we're attacking frontally
Watch Brin-k-ley and Hun-t-ley
Describing contrapuntally
The cities we have lost
No need for you to miss a minute
Of the agonizing holocaust
Yeah!
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Little Johnny Jones
He was a US pilot
And no shrinking violet
Was he, he was mighty proud
When World War III was declared
He wasn't scared
No siree!
And this is what he said on
His way to Armageddon:
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​So long, mom!
I'm off to drop the Bomb
So don't wait up for me
But though I may roam
I'll come back to my home
Although it may be
A pile of debris
Remember, mommy!
I'm off to get a commie
So send me a salami
And try to smile somehow
I'll look for you
When the war is over
An hour and a half from now!
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