By Maryam Dehghani and Pranya Gulati
In the binary of art vs craft, art — which is considered an intellectual, philosophical practice — is slotted as superior to craft — a domestic, diminutive, mostly female cottage domain. This false binary crumbles under the slightest inspection — “craft” is imbued with the richness of tradition and history and a lineage passed through textile. There’s a link to be drawn from that to physical computing, that sense of collective knowledge, that is well reflected in the ethos of the solar-punk manifesto as well. So when it came to the idea of a visual metaphor, we were very inspired by traditional dances and wanted to pay homage to matriarchal indigenous communities like the Banjaras of Rajasthan and the historical richness of the things they adorn themselves with — the spirit of bricolage that threads through communities. Dance is also not classically “intellectual”, it is ritualistic and physical. It is governed by rules of rhythm and movement. And so this belt, designed with respect to those principles, comes alive under light — when the direct circuits are exposed to light, they begin to vibrate. The exposure to light is transformed to the ringing of the bells. It’s fairly simple circuitry — featuring seven independent solar panels with their own vibrating coin motors soldered to them — in the service of a visual metaphor emphasizing energy transformation.
Parts
- 7x Flat coin vibrator motors (DC 3V 12000RPM)
- Solar panels
- 2x 3V 90mA 0.27W, 60mm x 30mm
- 2x 3V 90mA 0.27W, 62mm x 36mm
- 3x 1.5V 160mA 0.24W, 60mm x 30mm
Materials
- Velvet fabric, burgundy
- Wool yarn, navy blue
- Assorted ephemera: bells, beads, buttons
Process
Circuit Diagram
References
The first, foundational source of context for this paper is the Solarpunk Manifesto published by Regenerative Design that informed the conceptual framework around building something in celebration of generativity and community. This provided us with the opportunity to use wearable solar technology as a medium for creative storytelling from a feminist, post-colonial lens.
As per the final criteria defined for photovoltaic art and design in Alex Nathanson’s A History of Solar Power Art and Design, we narrowed our focus on “artwork that explore solar power as metaphor, especially in relation to the defining characteristics of PV such as … energetic transformations.” Dance is central to this piece, drawing stylistic inspiration from the articles worn by communities indigenous to our respective homes in India and Iran, like the coin belts worn by dancers of the Banjaras from Rajasthan, and the diversity of Kurdish folk dances in Rojhelat.
These articles of clothing are augmented with tassels, coins and bells to enhance the motion of dancers, both visually and sonically. It is a transformation of energy where in these settings there is less of a starkly formal performer-audience divide, and more of a communal experience where everyone present has an assigned participatory role. Folk dances provide communities to engage with their heritage tangibly through motion, to don their regalia and actively participate in reconciliation with the past. For displaced ethnic groups, traditional folk dance allows for communal healing. Eddie Madril, member of the Pascua Yaqui tribe and founder of Sewam American Indian Dance, put it succinctly:
“When I am dancing, I am being, I am creating, I am giving, I am connecting. I have come into every dimension of life.
I dance to the heartbeat of the drum, of the earth, of us all –
and in deep reverence I dance for my ancestors,
for those who cannot dance any longer,
for the community and
for the children who will dance our stories into the future.”
For design inspiration we turned to Polina Osipova, a young multi-media artist whose output is firmly rooted in the traditional motifs of her Chuvash origin, rendered in contemporary juxtaposition with digital, postmodern influences. For instance, her series entitled ‘Digital Mythologies’ contends with the tension between specific cultural artistic folk traditions with the homogenization of global online aesthetic trends. This fragmented, deconstructed approach to the traditional feminine was very moving and affected both the concept as well as the visual language of this project.
In keeping with the solarpunk ideology, bricolage sensibilities of improvisation were also deeply affected our approach to this project. We wanted to repurpose materials from past projects in vein of the sustainability at the core of solar power, and re-contextualize them in this thematic vein. Fabric scraps, buttons, beads, string and other ephemera at our disposal were employed in the final output in classic, scrappy DIY philosophy. It also allows it to be a growing project, as any additional artefacts can be tethered on to the existing foundational belt in the future, making it a potential canvas for autobiographical testimonies.
- Regenerative Design. “A Solarpunk Manifesto.” Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.re-des.org/es/a-solarpunk-manifesto/.
- Nathanson, Alex. A History of Solar Power Art and Design. Routledge, 2023. ISBN 9781032042848.
- Pixabay. “Kalbeliya Folk Dance.” Photograph. March 29, 2019. Accessed November 11, 2023. https://pixabay.com/photos/kalbeliya-folk-dance-dance-4088755/.
- “Kurdish villagers dance in preparation for a wedding in Ghara Kilissa, Eastern Kurdistan. Circa 1950s-1960s.” Tumblr. Accessed November 10, 2023. https://naxosh.tumblr.com/post/159391577363/kurdish-villagers-dance-in-preparation-for-a.
- Madrid, Eddie. Interview. “NVTV – Eddie Madril (Pascua Yaqui).” YouTube, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0d7bk5maos.
- Osipova, Polina. Digital Mythologies. Exhibition, Hoxton Gallery, London, E2 7JN, October 27–30, 2021.
Next Steps
The final outcome is a touch underwhelming for the purposes of our demonstration, thus we want to explore a more dramatic transformation with stronger vibrating motors and more tassels to really make the belt come alive under light. We are also intrigued at the prospect of incorporating an LED output as some feedback in the class demonstration suggested.