The Power of 8

‘The Power of 8’ is a collaborative project, in which eight people from different walks have come together to imagine their visions of optimistic futures.

Why?

Today, in face of what seems to be a melt down of economic systems, the foreboding environmental crisis, not to mention regular threats of war, terror and even the remote possibility of a technological singularity, we are (once again) living that moment in history, where images of a ‘dark future’ have become mainstream. Scientists, futurists and artists have commented about this crisis in their own way, and we are constantly bombarded with predictions about the possible worst-case scenarios.

While the fact that we live in a world of finite resources stands true, how do we, as members of the civil society, translate, what might seem to be relatively abstract predictions of the future, into our everyday lives? Where do they collide with our individual aspirations of the habitable, or even ‘perfect’ future worlds we desire?

Eight people from different walks of life came together in this project to meet the voices of concern and the faces of gloom head on. They imagined their future worlds of solar powered airships, self governance, waterfall creating machines, dangerous play areas, flat streets for grannies, permaculture orchards, stem cell shops, dense city labyrinths and much more.

They went into the city, talked to people, made films, built tools, and created a living archive of the future juxtaposing it with our everyday present. It has been an exciting journey, and the results are now being exhibited at the Watermans Gallery, so do come by!

A Project by:
Anab Jain, Liam Young, Charlie Tims, Graham Burnett, Darryl Chen, Chris Hand, Sanjiv Sharma, Tessy Britton and Christopher Collett.