Solar Cooking as Art Inspiration

Guest Blog by Badlungs Art

About one year and a half ago I dived into the world of solar cooking, a tangible and exciting way to implement bits of solarpunk ideal to my everyday life. I fell in love with this low-tech approach, which is quite convenient to use in our sunny Southern France, and even made an Instagram account to share my recipes and experiences (https://www.instagram.com/sollies_cheese/). It was only a matter of time before this enthusiasm broke through in my art, and I did it the best way I know: with cute animals. 
 
The little mouse in her bright clearing in the middle of the forest might look adorably old-timey and send cottagecore vibes, but she demonstrates how easily dinner can be heated with a couple of mirrors and a black pot. Sometimes, future lies in simplicity. 
 
Since finding the right spot and angle for optimal heating quickly becomes one of the main obsessions of solar cooks all over the world, in both others illustrations I picked animals who have a special talent for basking in heat and sunlight and gave them tasks they might enjoy.
 
Makis Catta could prove themselves the ideal assistants for this job by providing the perfect angle for a solar oven: they are so used to exposing their white bellies to the Sun like some kind of fluffy cult, it wouldn’t even feel like working to them. Just like people in Ancient times followed the traces in nature to know where to find sunlight, food or water, the first step towards a solarpunk way of life is to hush and observe nature, and enjoy animals’ instinctive wisdom.
 
Finally, to make sure someone patiently watches after the food that is cooking, why not get the help of some cute and chonky bearded dragons who would be more than happy to lounge in the sun until lunch is done?  

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All three illustrations represent a different type of solar cooker. The mouse has a parabole-type cooker that can be both powerful and versatile. You have to check them out often and change the angle every half-hour, and preferably use a dark lid to prevent burning. The bearded dragons use a dark glass tube with reflectors, a contraption that might take a little longer to reach full heat but once it’s hot, it has a really nice inertia and keeps the food hot for a long time, even if the clouds show up. The lemurs use a box type oven that can be used in a similar way than a traditional gas or electric oven. They don’t heat up as much as others but make amazing slow cookers and zero energy crock pots. But there are so many more options available, and I’ve found myself heating veggies in the sun during summer with a windshield sunshade, an old baby bathtub and a black painted glass jar… Talk about one exciting way to take baby steps towards the future! 
 
It seems rather impossible for me to envision a solarpunk utopia without non-human animals, as their kingdom is one of the most essential parts of this balance we, dreamers, aim for. They also happen to be one of my favorite subjects to draw, so they are my most usual mode of expression.
 
However, more than a personal preference, I feel that making solarpunk illustrations that include animals, such as those one can find in children books, is the best way to reach and to be appealing to a wider and younger audience of dreamers, to plant the seeds of a future where the Sun can be at peace with Earth, and provide his useful, gentle warmth, instead of an apocalyptic disaster. 
 
This is what I've been trying to convey with these illustrations, how what humans feel obligated to describe in progressive terms such as solarpunk, is precisely what most animals have been doing since the world started spinning. We just need to embrace our inner lemur instinct, and use our human intelligence to make it a hopeful future.

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Badlungs Art is an illustrator and tattoo artist from Southern France with a passion for solarpunk. She tries to convey it sometimes through her art, and by solar cooking on a regular basis, trying to get the best of Provence's sun, which was the main inspiration for the pieces published in this anthology.