Mute Vol 1, No. 14 – Space: Intergalactic Overdrive

Viva la Luna

M14 :: the space issue: Summer/Autumn 1999

It’s September 1999 and we’re at the tail end of the summer of lunar love. In the charts, bad techno has celebrated space launches; in futurist documentaries venture capitalists have extolled the virtues of investment in lunar industries; paper memories of the eclipse have littered the beaches of Cornwall; Full Moon, book and exhibition, has caused a furore; and naturally, on its 30^th anniversary, the moon landing has rewound itself eternally on TV. In this issue, Mute is joining in – if not quite for a full-on love-in, then definitely for a closer look. Beyond a taste of our own little slice of infinity, what does space mean? Who is exploring it, and why? Karl Grossman, interviewed by Armin Medosch, is unequivocal: after land, sea and air, he believes (together with some not insignificant others in the US military) that it is the fourth medium of warfare. Others prefer to view it less literally: in “Exploding Eve”, a good part of the women we asked about their views on outer space spoke in metaphors. In a last minute contribution, NASA/TREK author Constance Penley runs the two categories together, responding “When I think about space as a woman all I can see are Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, or maybe Sally Ride orbiting the earth. But when I think about space as a feminist I see Christa McAuliffe, on the one hand, and the senseless stupidity of her publicity-stunt death, and on the other, Commander Eileen Collins, the only NASA astronaut who has been consistently critical of the space agency’s gender politics.” On that note, I’ll sign off as she does: “See you in space!”

Pauline van Mourik Broekman

1999-09, ISSN 1356-7748-14