Murmullos para extraterrestres [Murmurs for extraterrestrials]

In 1977, the space probe Voyager 1 was launched into outer space with the mission to explore the limits of the solar system. Today, forty-four years after its launch, it continues working and is the furthest man-made object from Earth. Its trip is one of no return: Voyager 1 will move away from us forever, navigating through the vacuum of the universe until the signal with our world is lost.

In fact, no one knows where it will reach, and this uncertainty was taken into account when designing the probe. A group of scientists created the Voyager Golden Record (The Sounds of Earth), a gold plated, vinyl record that was placed in the structure of the probe. This record contains sounds and images from Earth (a selection that includes things from a piece by Mozart to the sound made by whales, among much more material), with the intention that, if one day a form of extraterrestrial life finds the probe, perhaps it can decipher the contents of the record and it will know what our planet and we are like.

Throughout the academic year, I would like to research and analyse the contents of that record, understanding it as a relevant attempt to communicate with the unknown and to represent us as a species. Secondly, I would like to consider that our group-class also has the opportunity to launch a probe into space: Would we like to include a record with new material? What images and sounds would represent us? What languages should we choose to communicate with unknown life forms?

This would be the starting point of the proposal, with which we could work artistic research to reflect on how us humans relate to outer space, the friction between what seems near and far to us, and the limits of representation.