Seeing Space: Astronomical Imaging and the Production of Cosmic Visions

The relationship between photography and space is a longstanding one. Louis Daguerre, for example, invented the Daguerreotype in 1837, and by 1839 Daguerre himself is thought to have produced the first photograph of the moon (TIME, 2024). Today, space organizations like NASA mobilize all manner of imaging technology to generate visual representations of space including x- ray, optical, infrared, and ultraviolet photography used to capture data across the electromagnetic spectrum.
The advanced techniques used to produce contemporary images of space involve the colourization and layering of different kinds of visual data on top of one another to produce images of deep space that make sense to a human audience. This is because while contemporary space images offer awe- inspiring aesthetics ranging from the ethereal to the apocalyptic, much of what they depict would be invisible (to us), obscured by space dust, washed out by proximity to a bright light source, etc. In other words, what they present us with is not what we would see if we were floating in space, instead they ask us to adopt a more-than-human mode of vision. In this paper, I argue this vision blends the technoscientific and the paranormal and I explore how this 'cosmic' vision works to shape our relationship with space.
Keywords:space, vision, image, technoscientific, paranormal

Genevieve Collins ∆ (Social Anthropology, University of Manchester, UK)

Shifting Thermal States: Sound Recording in the Canadian Subarctic

This presentation is focused on ethnographic fieldwork in the Canadian subarctic with researchers, community members, and artists. The project focuses on how research stations figure into larger projects of ecological and environmental monitoring across the cryosphere–places where the voices and expertise of local inhabitants are routinely excluded from decision making processes. How does attention to shifting thermal states help bring into sharper focus ideas of temperature, time, and environmental concerns in the face of rapidly shifting climates and ongoing colonial projects in the North. This presentation will focus on the visual/media dimension of this project, which includes a series of recordings capturing features of the environment, infrastructure, and excerpts from ethnographic interviews, as well as reflections on the use of sound as elicitation device. Keywords: Sound, Subarctic, art, science, environment

Gwenn-Aël Lynn (Independent scholar, USA)

Contested Space

Since the dawn of the space age, satellites remnants and rocket bodies have orbited the Earth, shrouding it in an orbital gleaming cloud of metal debris. The previous Trump administration planted the seeds for the commodification of space with its doctrine of “New Space”. Here on Earth, every time Space X tests one of its rockets, it spews 10.1 million pounds of liquid methane, thus spurring climate change. Deondre Smiles, in his paper The Settler Logic of (Outer) Space, draws our attention to how space exploration is predicated on a settler/colonial approach.
Though space may appear devoid of sensory stimuli beyond vision because life cannot strive in its void, Astronauts have noted the cordite olfactory residue on their suit when they come back from space walks. We also must consider that space exploration begins on Earth. There are sensory and environmental consequences to launching rockets. I went researching the olfactory landscape, and wildlife of South Texas, where Space X launches from, as they are endangered by the rocket’s vibrations, gas exhaust, and explosions.
My contribution to Uncommon Senses V will be a report on the state of my research at this point, investigating how a sensory embodied approach to space exploration can foster its decolonization. Ultimately, this research will result in some form of sensory artwork, built in conjunction with communities, from South Texas and elsewhere, resisting the colonization of space.
Keywords: Senses, olfaction, olfactory art, space, decolonization, aeronautics