2017 - ongoing
Meshpool
An ongoing adventure into crypto, the commons, p2p and distributed, renewable energy
We are exploring the intersection of crypto currencies, crypto mining and community owned and governed distributed renewable energy micro-grids, held in common and framed from an abundance-based view of the world. Our current goal is to see how crypto coupled to renewables could provide start-up funding to transform our home community’s roofscape into an abundance field of more energy than it will ever need. This inquiry is guided by a few intriguing, open-ended questions: What happens when we produce more energy than we need? How do neighbours share their bounty and different assets? Who owns what and how is it measured and governed? How do we co-govern the spaces between, the many different layers of infrastructure? How best can we open generative conversations with local government (who currently inhabit a centralised production, top-down world) and communities (who are currently passive consumers of government services) and move towards a more commons centred political economy, inhabited by a “partner state” and “engaged, active citizens”?
We are researching these questions with a few micro installations in three different urban and community contexts in Cape Town, South Africa.
