Observatorio de la luz / Observatory of Power
Drop-in session Observatorio de la luz
This drop-in session took place in Valverde de Burguillos (Extremadura, Spain) on July 17.19, 2025 alongside the Observatorio de la luz ("Observatory of power"), a curatorial programme[1] focused on energy communities in transitional times.
Inspired by the Queering Damage[2] system of formulaic/speculative writing, we proposed a two step method.
More images: https://titipi.org/projects/IR/Extremadura/Formulas/
1. Interviewing the situation
Printable file: Area.pdf
First, we started by 'interviewing the situation' through thinking-attuning system: literature/text fragments, questions, stickers and other graphic elements together with participants in the Observatory. For this, we developed a system in the form of a set of cards with "areas of urgency" that hold these provocations. The cards were handed to participants a few days in advance, and we invited them to 'keep these questions in their pockets'.
The system was arranged around concerns about:
- energies in place,
- political economies,
- specific community set-ups,
- time spans,
- calculation systems.
⚡ENERGÍAS
¿Qué energías toman partida? (nuclear, solar, calor, fuerza corporal, inercia, trabajo, luz, movimiento, resistencia ...)
¿De qué modos podrían estas energías definir el territorio? (centralización, vertido de residuos, fuentes, agotamiento, contaminación, nube-ificación, militarización, control ...)⚡ENERGIES
What energies are in place? (nuclear, solar, heat, wind, body-strength, inertia, work, light, movement, resistance, ...)
How could these energies shape the territory? (centralisation, wasteland, source, exhaustion, pollution, cloudification, weaponisation, control ...)$ ECONOMÍAS POLÍITICAS
¿Qué economías políticas podrían estar dándose? (apoyo mutuo, inversión privada, propiedad de la tierra, gestión doméstica, financiarización, extracción, capitalismo, colonialismo, comunal ...)
¿Cómo podrían estas economías políticas impactar a las relaciones con la energía? (agotamiento, cooperación, acumulación, regeneración, decrecimiento, deuda, amor, dependencia, infraestructura...)$ POLITICAL ECONOMIES
Which political economies might there be? (mutual aid, private investment, land ownership, domestic management, financialization, extraction, capitalism, colonialism, communal, ...)
How could these political economies impact relations to energy? (depletion, cooperation, accumulation, regeneration, degrowth, debt, love, dependency, infrastructuring ...)& COMUNIDADES
¿Qué agentes están presentes en esta orquestación? (instituciones, hormigas, individualidades, comunidades, "recursos", técnicas, bandadas de pájaros, regulaciones, contrabandistas, fugitives ...)
¿De qué maneras podrían organizarse estas comunidades? (afinidad, contratos, derechos, deberes, co-responsabilidad, discriminación, propiedad, teletrabajo, explotación, consentimiento, colaboración, fungibilidad, conflicto, abuso, supremacismo ...)& COMMUNITIES
What agents are present within this orchestration? (institutions, ants, individuals, communities, "resources", techniques, flocks of birds, regulations, smugglers, fugitives ...)
How would these collectivities be arranged? (kinship, contracts, rights, duty, co-responsibility, discrimination, ownership, telework, exploitation, consent, collaboration, fungibility, conflict, abuse, supremacy ...)% CÁLCULOS
¿Qué lógicas definen las relaciones basadas en la energía? (optimización, eficiencia, soluciones, computación, exclusividad, descripción, agilidad, MegaVatios, externalización ...)
¿Cómo deben las comunidades calcular sus vínculos con la energía? (volumetría, derecho, monetización, riesgo, deuda, potencia, listón-cero, eficacia técnica ...)% CALCULATIONS
What logics define energy relations? (optimisation, efficiency, solutions, computation, exclusivity, description, agility, MegaWatts, offshoring ...)
How should communities calculate their relations to energy? (volumetric, law, monetisation, risk, venture, debt, potential, comparing-to-Zero, technical efficacy, ... )➰ TIEMPO
¿Qué plazos de tiempo deben tenerse en consideración? (inmanencia, histórico, finalizado, crisis, urgencia, recursión, ensayo, nunca más, ...)
¿Cómo afecta la temporalidad al modo en que las comunidades se relacionan con la energía? (memorias, eventos históricos, ubicuidad, repetición, innovación, estatismo, cese, larga duración, turbo, efímera ...)➰ TIME
Which timespans need to be taken into account? (immanence, historical, finalized, crisis, urgency, recursion, rehearsal, never again ...)
How does time affect the way communities relate to energy? (memories, historical events, pervasiveness, repetition, innovation, staticity, halt, long duration, turbo, ephemeral ...)
2. Writing/analysis
Printable file: File:Operations.pdf
Second, we gathered the elements that emerged in step one and then organised a writing/analysis session in which as a group we operated with the elements in the form of formulas:
/// OPERACIONES
>> remediar
◳ escalar el espacio-tiempo a n
i integrar
* multiplicar
# especular
" renarrar
♥ amar
↺ protestar
♙ resistir
}{ bisagra.
. descentrar
♞ reclamar
↻ inventar
✵ voltear
Δ romper
Ω reparar
⚕ celebrar
ⓧ abolir
⇆ diferenciar
B boicotear
D desinvertir
S sancionar
❦ florecer
⸕ extender
ᨓ ralentizar
⋇ reubicar
∈ delegar
͝ compensar
◍ repetir
҈ redistribuir
࿓ recordar
ӿ desaprender
| renegociar
... .............................
... .............................
... .............................
... .............................
... .............................
/// OPERATIONS
>> remediate
◳ scale timespace to n
i integrate
* multiply
# speculate
" renarrate
♥ love
↺ protest
♙ resist
}{ hinge . decenter
♞ reclaim
↻ invent
✵ flip
Δ break
Ω repair
⚕ celebrate
ⓧ abolish ⇆ differentiate
B boycott
D divest
S sanction
❦ flourish
⸕ extend
ᨓ slow down
⋇ relocate
∈ delegate
͝ compensate
◍ repeat ҈ redistribute
࿓ remember
ӿ unlearn
| renegotiate
... .............................
... .............................
... .............................
... .............................
... .............................
