Thread by @TheLastFarm

You often hear that the end of capitalism would mean more time to make art

But what would that art be like? I’d like to propose some directions for art after petro-capitalism, under ecosocialism

Principles: maximalism, organic materials, communally integrated

1) High fashion

Festive/ceremonial costume design can be the jumping off point for much new exploration in fashion

It’s a transhistorical feature of communal celebrations, new versions of which will emerge as our economy shifts to post-industrial, democratic forms of production, esp agriculture

2) Architecture

“Petro-capitalist modernism” values only profit maximization & is entirely reliant on artificially cheap energy for its design & construction. The results are 👎

Natural materials & skilled human labor can surpass it for beauty, interest, & functionality w/ ease

3) Ceramics

These wild crafted pieces by Pascal Baudar show what future/primitive ceramic art could look like

All of the materials are foraged & unprocessed, all of the glazes are natural, & all of the firing is done in earthen kilns

The results are gorgeous & functional

4) Embroidery

Since the invention of needle & thread humans have made embroidered fabric art

But there is still plenty of room to innovate, provoke, & delight

Natural dyes, novel surfaces, narratives, & the scavenged wastes of fast fashion all offer promising new directions

5) Facade decoration

It would be an impractical waste to simply knock down all the awful buildings constructed under petro-capitalism. But a banal building can become surprisingly beautiful w/ a decorated facade

So we must task artists with remaking them, one facade at a time

6) Woodworking

There will simply never be an end to the potential for creativity with wood, which would be a core product of eco-socialist agroforestry

Some contemporary artists are showing that one of our warmest, most sustainable materials still has so much to offer

7) Woven sculpture

Weaving w/ wheat goes back to at least Ancient Egypt

But woven art needn’t be limited to wheat: countless natural materials offer the opportunity to contrast organic & geometric patterns

Imagine a world of interior decor based on seasonal weaving of plants

8) Floral Design

In an ecosocialist society, flowers would be among the most common luxuries—they are a necessary byproduct of post-fossil fuel agriculture. Fashioning them into ambitious works of art would be an obvious use for an abundant & already gorgeous resource

9) Textile weaving

Weaving, knitting, & crochet would undoubtedly experience a renaissance once sweatshop production, plastic textiles, & globalized supply chains became a thing of the past

Local animal & plant fibers, natural dyes, & coop production could take their place

10) Willow sculpture

Willow is a very fast growing tree that can be easily coppiced to produce long, pliable strands readily manipulated into all kinds of shapes

Even while willow is alive, it can be used as a functional topiary to produce living sculptures that grow & evolve

11) Basketry

In a world w/o plastic bags, vessels for carrying things will get renewed interest, both for their utility & their artistry

Instead of a world littered w/ plastic garbage, we can have a world where the craftsmanship & artistry of baskets beautifies everyday life

12) Kinetic sculpture

This “strandbeest” by Theo Jansen is a 42’ long wind-powered kinetic sculpture that runs along the beach indefinitely

Imagine a world in which one might encounter a kinetic sculpture like this anytime one went out for walk. It would be marvelously strange

Contemporary art is largely awful. Why? Because art is an expression of a society’s values & material culture. The values of petro-capitalism are profit maximization & nothing else. That vapidity is reflected in the meaningless of our art

It doesn’t have to be this way

Ecosocialism is the path out of this dystopia. We can live in a future that values humanity & our ecosystem above all else, and those values will produce art that deeply matters in the lives of normal people, not plutocrats

That is the democratic, sustainable art we deserve

For more good tweets about #ecosocialism, #homesteading, & #permaculture please give me a follow. You see what I’m all about here ⬇️