SPACE TRILOGY
A 10 year collaboration with space scientists and artists asking who has the right to speak for Earth?
Space Trilogy comprises of 3 works – Yelling at Stars, Void Love and Forever Now. Each part of of an on-going research project asking what the role of art in space science can be.
Yelling at Stars was Australia’s first interstellar message and was transmitted as part of the Next Wave Festival from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with an introduction by SBS World New’s Australia’s Anton Enus. Void Love was an online soap opera starring Australian icon Kamahl, created at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing with a team of astronomers. Forever Now was a remake of the Voyager Record sent into space in 1977 created with legendary jeweller and object designer Susan Cohn and curators Brian Ritchie, Thea Baumann and Jeff Khan.
"“Christopher Fluke, at Swinburne University, was our astronomy consultant for the live transmission. He made us aware that the act of sending a message is highly controversial. He drew our attention to the debate that’s been taking place in the astronomical community about ‘who has the right to speak for Earth?’—and to the SETI Institute’s guidelines on interstellar messaging. Then he helped us crunch all the numbers to work out how the message would be sent; explained the scientific detail. He has a deep belief in the arts, yet the performance was very exciting for him as a scientist, in terms of astronomy outreach: all of a sudden, at a hybrid contemporary arts festival in Melbourne, people were engaging with astronomy because of the show."
Original concept by Willoh Weiland
FOREVER NOW
Project Direction by Willoh Weiland
Curated by Brian Ritchie, Thea Baumann and Willoh Weiland
Record Design by Susan Cohn
Produced by Erin Milne
Web Design and Programming by Narinda Reeders and Max Wheeler, Icelab
Commercial Innovation Consultant – Tony Bonney, Podium
Associate Producer – Bek Berger
Dramaturge – James Brennan
Sound Designer/ Composer – Peter Brennan
Systems Technician – Josh Gardiner
Video Designer – Chris More
Video Editor/ Operator – Andy Lane
Costume design – Willoh Weiland, Katja Handt, Liz Dunn,
Costume Construction – Katja Handt
Costume Assistant – Melody Brennan
Production Assistant – Rahni Allan
Steady cam operation – Caleb Doherty
Documentation – Bryony Jackson, Scott Atkins, Jesse Hunniford
Bass Guitarist – Julius Schwing
Choreographer – Atlanta Eke
Performer – Wally de Backer
Performer – Amanda Palmer
Dancers – Atlanta Eke, Tristan Meecham, Liz Dunn, Timothy Walsh, Chloe Chignell, Ney Palmm, Anna Kidd, Georgia Burke, Kelly Drummond-Cawthorn, Ben Hancock
Sound design – Kelly Ryall
Live streaming – Martyn Coutts
Production Assistant – Mark Pritchard
Video – Andy Lane
VOID LOVE & YELLING AT STARS
Created with Aphids, Next Wave, Australian Network for Art and Technology, Swinburne University, Arts Catalyst, MONA FOMA, the Melbourne Art Centre and the Substation.
Collaborators – Nicky Forster, Andrew Fraser, Pip Norman, Cat Sewell.
Supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria and the City of Melbourne through its Arts and Culture Triennial Program.
Yelling at Stars
Void Love
Yelling at Stars
Forever Now
