On November 21, 2012 the Echostar XVI communications satellite was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Affixed to the exterior of that satellite is an archival disc created by artist Trevor Paglen called The Last Pictures. Echostar XVI has an geostationary orbit, 36.000 km above earth’s equator. Made of ultra-archival materials, the disc is expected to orbit the earth for billions of years. To create the artifact, Paglen micro-etched one hundred photographs selected to represent modern human history onto a silicon disc encased in a gold-plated shell that was designed at MIT and Carleton College. As a cultural artifact of our time, The Last Pictures is both a message to the future and a poetic meditation on the legacy of our civilization. Recently I had an interview with Paglen, about the images, time and his artistic research, which we did with Skype, an interview you can read here on the Astroblogs. Beneath the interview there are a couple of video’s, two of them about Paglen’s Last Pictures and one of the launch of the Proton rocket, that brought the Echostar into orbit.
Video’s
Project Video:
Trevor Paglen – The Last Pictures Project Video from Creative Time on Vimeo.
Trailer:
Trevor Paglen – The Last Pictures from Creative Time on Vimeo.
Launch of the Echostar XVI:
Source: Creative Time + Kurzweil.
Danielaaaaa, apart from a simple “WOW!!!!” I am speachless…..a condition which, as you well know, very seldom happens to me…ha…ha..!!
Yep, I second that Jan. Great interview and a great story too. Fascinating idea, that high above our heads there’s a satellite that contains hundred pictures, that will last forever, eh… sorry a couple of billion years. When we humans have wiped out ourselves – peace of a cake as you can see all around you – than that orbiting mortuarium is eventually the last that remains of us. And this other idea: that earth has a ring – just like Saturn – and that is’t an artificial ring, made out of machines. Woehahaha, sounds like the Matrix. Daniela, you made my day! 😀
I totally agree with me colleagues, great interview and it invokes fundamental questions about our place in the depths of time, and especially our future legacy 🙂 Although I believe our legacy will be far greater than that. I don’t believe in extra terrestrial visitors – I believe that filling the universe with inteligence is OUR task, we are the ones to lead our legacy into immortality and a longlasting imprint into the universe itself. But that’s just my opinion 😉
Excellent interview Daniela. I hope menkind will send more pictures in future so Trevor Paglen’s pictures will not be the last. It’s a brilliant idea and well done. Again I’m convinced we all are star dust, now and after billions of years te come.
Ard