RURALPUNK – Using play as a tool to explore collective sustainable futures
RURALPUNK is a project focused on presenting a collective vision on future through play artifact – grocery store truck. That project resembles values of solarpunk a sc-fi genre that has core values build around collaboration between nature, society, and technology.
Project started when I visited Älghult for the first time. I saw big potential in the village and wanted to create something with community there. RURALPUNK project was created in collaboration with BY2030 and Uppvidinge Kommun. That collaboration added depth to exploration, providing valuable insights into the village’s collective imagination and aspirations and problems that they and similar places are facing.
Inspired by the work of Jason Edward Lewis, who uses technology and speculative fiction to imagine distant futures for indigenous communities and Leo Mühlfeld who utilized Ai in his Centaur Project I tried to present the future through the lens of play, particularly through play artifact. But first I needed data. Drawing from my experience as a play designer and maker, with connecting them to a solarpunk values, I managed to prepare workshop and create artifact as a starting point to new ideas that can come. Workshop focused on imagination how the village can look like in the future, made in collaboration withThe Holding Surplus House (THSH) .
The workshop, though met with low levels of participation, served as a place for reflection and dialogue between me and community, offering glimpses into Älghult’s collective consciousness. Nevertheless, the data collection in also form of interviews and field exploration was valuable input in the next stage, the codesigning with AI.
Through workshop and other engagement, I discovered the aspirations and concerns of the community, focusing on issues such as the lack of jobs, social spaces, and access to essential amenities like grocery stores. I started a conversation with Chat GPT model (3.5) and asked for ideas for toys that can serve as a symbol of potential future. Through mildly satisfied with results I directed the model into one problem, a lack of grocery store. Together we came up with the idea of grocery toy truck. I asked for a prompt to create an image in Adobe Firefly (2.0) to serve for me as an inspiration in the next stage.
A central part of the project was creation of a play artifact – a symbolic representation of Älghult’s potential future. Propeller in the back serves as a symbol for clean energy, embracing values of solarpunk. The colours are taken from Uppvidnge coat of arms with little modifications, to match better colours that I found in the village. Finally, wheels are in classic Swedish wooden toy shape wheels showing a local heritage of toymaking. This artifact serves as a beacon of hope, illustrating a future where sustainability, community, and technology are coexisting. The choice of a toy as a medium carries profound significance, showing the timeless tradition of passing down stories and values through generations.
In the end want to acknowledge every one of my collaborators as all of them contributed to the project. I want to thank especially Stephan Hurza for the help and time that he spent during the workshop day. Also, great insight, encouragement, and help from Kasia Musial from Uppvininge Kommun. And all the kind people from the village who shared their stories thoughts and hopes.
