After Oil 1

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta / August 19-22, 2015

In 2015, thirty-five artists and researchers came together in Edmonton, Alberta for the inaugural After Oil School (AOS). They were invited to think collectively about the challenges which living in a petroculture poses for energy transition. Over four days, they were asked to discuss, debate, and to provide answers to four key questions: 

  • Considering historical precedence, what cultural strategies are available to trigger and expedite a large-scale transition of energy regimes? 
  • How does the problem of energy force us to rethink our traditional notions and categories of political agency? 
  • How is the use of energy entwined with representations and narratives about modernity and the environment? Correspondingly, how do artistic productions reflect, critique, and inform our understanding and use of energy? 
  • What range of scenarios is currently on the table for imagining our future with energy? 

The result of AOS1 was the collectively authored book After Oil (Petrocultures and West Virginia University Press, 2016).

Download After Oil

After Oil 2: Solarity

What social conditions would be required to initiate and sustain an energy transition animated by solarity – by both the energies of the sun (solar) and the collective energies of bodies working together (solidarity)?

After Oil 2