Figure 0: Handwritten Note

To note from Braidotti: the negative framing of Anthropocene effects does not help us in creating agency and positive futures. What if, embracing the inevitable, we tried to make positive futures out of it?

If the algae spilled and infested the oceans, how could this be something we could live with?

Fabulation

One of the researchers started to Fabulate by imagining that the algae spill (from the local carbon-capturing algae project) could change the local ecosystem. The fabulation is initially quite bleak and pessimistic, featuring an algae spill from the CO2 algae capturing experiment of the port – the algae spill into the sea and negatively affects the local biodiversity- One researcher starts to visually represent the fabulation, inspired by the toolkit of fluorescent colors. The algae could lead to a luminescence green that would inspire awe and wonder for locals and visitors alike- I ask the co-author to continue the fabulae:

Figure 1: Fabulations of a dog and fish friendship and the fluorescent beauty of the CO2 capturing algae spill, harnessed to make sustainable illumination of the island.

Figure 3: Handwritten text of the fabulation

Losely captured as: “The dog makes friends underwater, plays with brings food to the local Grey Triggerfish. The fish is friendly with the dog. The Grey Triggerfish bites humans but not dogs. Some algae spilled from the C02 experiment and turned a portion of the sea in from of the port fluorescent green. – this phenomenon attracts people, sailors, and aircraft that want to see the fluorescent spill at night”

“the fluorescent algae becomes an unexpected energy source and starts to be pumped back in the tubes to provide energy for the island. During the night, the tubes would be so bright that …

The water from the ocean and …living salt water and algae in their houses. Sometimes …animals would swim through the pipes and …neighbors”

“The Grey Triggerfish would sometimes swim through the transparent pipes as well and get to know households, entertain then and develop a sign language to communicate with them. It would go to one house in particular, where his dog friend lives, and liven up the dogs’ evenings. “

Figure 4: The story of a friendship between a dog and fish and the positive harnessing of the CO2 algae capturing spill.

The image of the bioluminescence energy harnessed and powering the Island human and more than human assemblage is beautiful and inspiring - one author harnesses the generative power of this fabulae to generate more fabulation and visual sketches as the story expands and the effects of the luminescent algae reach the nearby small capital city of the Island. Pipes of fluorescent seawater generated by the algae spill bring luminescent water from the port to the city. The city does not need electricity to illuminate the streets and inside the houses. Instead, transparent pipes full of marine animals and species circulate in and out of the human habitat. Terrestrials and marine species make kin. They notice and befriend each other. They start to recognize each other when they encounter each other repeatedly. The pipes bring the species back to the sea, enriched by the experience of their terrestrial friends.

Of course, like all progress, some accident happens- some pipes burst, some species remained trapped in its long tubular highways - these sacrifices are appreciated and honored- decorations along the wall of the city mark these painful losses and celebrate the life and the kinship that still runs through the two worlds. Terrestrial species build special locals where the marine species can dwell and interact with them freely - these are big rooms filled with seawater, where humans and their kin species can inhabit thanks to special gear like wet suites and breathing technologies. Here too, accidents happen- some terrestrial species lost their lives in their effort to communicate, stay longer, and touch the souls of their kin marine species more profoundly. These shared spaces began the joint civilization, which was made of joyful curiosity and deep respect for each other.

Figure 5: The capital city of the Island is lit up at night by the bioluminescent water carried through transparent pipes – marine species travel through the pipes.