Outer space is celebrated for its remarkable scientific achievements—from Moon landings and the exploration of distant planets and comets to pioneering deep-space research. Yet, much of today’s activity is dominated by national and commercial interests in limited Earth-Space environment that claim to benefit humanity while excluding structural engagement of civil and public perspectives. Expedition to Public Outer Space will challenge this paradigm by rethinking the role of the public in space initiatives.
In a world where 75 percent of the planet's land surface is experiencing measurable human pressure, the way people imagine the planet substantially impacts the environment itself. Such environmental imaginaries are constructed by a number of underlying concepts, value systems, visual cultures and technologies used for portraying the Earth's environment. However, these technologies are neither neutral nor inclusive of society.
The S+T+ARTS Talk at ESA/ESTEC was organised on 15th May 2019 by ILEWG, Waag and European Commission. The main objectives for the event were to explore links between ESA space research activities related to arts and the S+T+ARTS programme, to identify benefits and impact of recent art-science collaborations, to showcase artistic, creative and critical methods of research and innovation, and to address human and social challenges in a holistic manner.
While the closer reaches of space are quite populated already, the conditions for human life there remain unsuitable, and without adequate devices and objects even deadly. The material manifestation of human presence in space is architecture at its most fundamental: as an articulation of surroundings and as a functional form of habitation in weightlessness.
