Extraterrestrial liberty and creative practice

a firsthand experience of an imagined future

Annalea Beattie

pp. 103-116

in: Charles S. Cockell (ed), The meaning of liberty beyond earth, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

In extra-terrestrial settlements of the future, liberty will be aligned with one's ability to act with spontaneity and forethought from a position of psychological safety, away from censorship and surveillance. Though humans are often perceived to be the vulnerable link in space systems, this chapter discusses an aspect to sustainable new settlement that is rarely mentioned: how art making can address wellbeing and the nature of isolation through an emphasis on inner experiences and self-determinism. Through the lens of a first-hand experience within a space analogue, this text explores networks of relations generated from shared practices within a confined space in an extreme environment. As the links between art and liberty are evaluated, imaginative works are positioned as acts of free will, offering an intimate connection to an alternative reality, one that links freedom to failure. In a constrained, unfamiliar future world, art making can nourish and promote notions of freedom, build autonomy , strengthen communities and help shape new cultural identities. Finally, in such a place, for humans to really inhabit a role in a new world, this chapter suggests that creative practices in future extra-terrestrial settlement need to be clearly prioritised and mandated as transitional space, occupying a significant role as part of and apart from daily life.