I’ve been thinking about science fiction and activism lately and how the two can come together in some way. My recent art exhibition, Building in the Post-Apocalypse addresses alternative and radical education in a society that desperately needs it. I will show you photos of that soon. I don’t claim to be an activist, but I think that many of my socially engaged art projects have activist elements tied into them. I’ve been trying to view a lot of my projects through the lens of science fiction – topics such as the blurry lines between utopia and dystopia and surviving an economic apocalypse by creating alternative, generosity-based communities, etc.

Here are a couple interesting links where I see activism and science fiction mixing it up in different ways:

Think Galactic – “Think Galactic is a Chicago-based reading group that seeks to discuss speculative fiction from a radical left perspective. Discussing SF lets us have fun *and* explore issues of oppressive hierarchies, confronting topics of race, gender, sexuality, class and more.” I don’t actually read a whole lot of science fiction, I just watch movies, but the descriptions of some of the books on their reading list are really amazing and I decided to order a couple and read them. If they are interesting I will blog about them. I think I will try to visit this reading group if I’m in Chicago some time.

Sleep Dealer – An indie science fiction movie that deals with issues of Mexican border control, the fight and control of other countries natural resources, and what seems to me to be problems of so-called globalization. I haven’t seen it yet, but this is my take based on what I’ve read. The movie opened this week in limited theaters in only New York and Los Angeles, so I’m super super pumped about seeing it on DVD soon.

Public Social University – A group that organizes free forums and classes as an act of radical education for the people by the people. As part of the art exhibition, Building in the Post-Apocalypse, Public Social University created an event called “Apocalypse.” They had participants play Destrukto a drawing game where you create and destroy over and over. They organized a discussion about whether or not we are currently in an apocalypse and they had someone lead a participatory dance session that explored, in form, the idea of destruction and rebuilding. Next an Urban Planning student talked about rethinking public space and the event finished with a forum of ideas on living more sustainably and re-invisioning social space.