Experience & Learning

The Less Remote symposium aimed to foster a dialogue and exchange between the cultural and space communities. It was organised on the occasion of the 59th International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, which hosted the symposium. Artists, thinkers and writers contributed to the debates about going back to the Moon and on to Mars, living in space, art in zero gravity, the future of the International Space Station, and the search for life and human origins in scientific missions.

Less Remote featured presentations by Tomas Saraceno, Agnes Meyer Brandis, Marko Peljhan, Zbigniew Oksiuta, Rachel Armstrong, Andy Miah, Sarah Jane Pell, Fraser MacDonald, Nina Czegledy and many others. 

Less Remote was organised by Flis Holland and The Arts Catalyst, in association with Leonardo and OLATS. The symposum was co-sponsored by the IAA Commission VI

Schedule

A full programme with abstracts can be downloaded opposite, along with speaker biographies.

30 SEPTEMBER

10:00           Opening Address       

10:10           Session 1: The Introspective Urge  

This session focused on humanity's self image as a determining constituent in the context of the cultural and social constructions of space science. It explored the relationship between the changing sense of self that has driven the arts and the sciences for the past four centuries relative to the engagement with space exploration.

14:00           Special Presentation: Tomas Saraceno         

14:30           Session 2: Extending Our Reach          

This strand focused on the search for life and its origins, the yearning for proof that we are not alone in the universe, and the long-term prospects for a human future among the stars. It will examine the cultural and philosophical implications of attempts to make contact with other intelligent life forms, what messages are sent and how they are composed. It will reflect on the search for the life on other planets in the solar system and elsewhere in the universe, how evidence is collected and whether we will recognise life when we find it.

17:30           The Arts Catalyst curated event   

01 OCTOBER

10:00           Session 3: Cultural Concerns 

This session addressed the interrelationship between intercultural, as well as interdisciplinary ideas of the cosmos and the nature of space exploration. It invited contributions that highlight the multiplicity of cosmologies, worldviews and utopias surrounding the idea and practice of (human) space travel today and throughout history.

12:30           Lunch + ITACCUS Open Meeting

15:00           Session 4: Inhabiting Space 

In this strand we invited considerations of the continuity between the needs of humans on earth and the possible demands of future 'spacefarers' in remote and often hostile environments. It considered the impact of the technological necessities for the colonisation of space on the human spacefarer as cultural and social being.

19:00           Interactive Event *       

20:30           Performance *         

* Venue: Centre for Contemporary Art, 350 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3JD

Organisational Committee

Flis Holland (Chair)

The Arts Catalyst

Leonardo

Leonardo/Olats

Peer Review Committee

Flis Holland (Chair)

Annick Bureaud (Leonardo / OLATS)

Rob La Frenais (The Arts Catalyst)

Roger Malina (IAA Commission VI)

Michael Punt (Leonardo)

Sundar Sarukkai (Centre for Philosophy, Indian National Institute of Advanced Studies)

Nicola Triscott (The Arts Catalyst)

Advisory Committee

Martha Blassnigg

Lowry Burgess

Stephen Dick

Bernard Foing

Roger Malina

Takuro Osaka

Jean-Luc Soret

Support

The event was supported by:

Arts Council England

IAA Commission VI

Individual speakers and artists at the symposium were sponsored by:

The Goethe Institute, Glasgow

CAP Research Fund, Solent University

The Australian Network for Art & Technology - Professional Development Travel Fund

Media Coverage

Times Online Review of LESS REMOTE:
"Glasgow space congress brings it all home : Intergalactic travel is still humanity’s greatest party tricK" - Allan Brown