The shifting of mineral exploitation from an exhausted Earth to its ‘invisible’ hinterlands – the Moon, celestial bodies, and finally, other planets – opens up a question : how does this new iteration of the space race, grounded in the promise of infinite resources, depart from existing Earth-based mining practices and their environmental and social impact? What are the materialities of space mining – its logistics, infrastructures, and workers – and their relationships to existing geopolitical power hierarchies on Earth? And finally, how will the ongoing privatisation of space affect the current status of extraterrestrial bodies as a form of beyond-planetary commons?

Text based on the introductory text for the exhibition 'Down to Earth', Luxembourg Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić.

Cosmic Market (2023)

Screening : Mon-Fri (12h30, 13h30, 14h30, 15h30, 16h30) | Sat (14h30, 15h30, 16h30)

Video : 2K, colour, stereo sound; 52 min
Camera, Sound, Editing : Armin Linke
Editing, Colour Grading, Subtitling : Giulia Bruno Sound Post-production : Giuseppe Ielasi, Giulia Bruno Production Coordination : Kati Simon
Video Archive Assistance : Martina Pozzan

Between November 2022 and February 2023, artist Armin Linke filmed at historical observatories and archives in Italy, as well as on the premises of different actors in space exploration in Luxembourg. Armin Linke, together with curators Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, also visited the laboratories and sites of technological experiments, conducting conversations with scientists, stakeholders, and legal experts involved in space mining. Cosmic Market is an artistic collage of interviews interspersed with mapping, remote sensing, and operational images that evoke the history of imaging and condense the continuous promise of the future, including its errors and failures. The film bears witness to the different references, logistic components, and other internal communication devices that support Moon research and the exploitation of the Moon’s natural resources. This project exposes connections between scientific research and differing interpretations of space legislation, as well as between technological development and the establishment of a new market, both on Earth and beyond.

Credits

Off-Earth. A Critical Reading of Resources, Infrastructures, and Commons

Symposium & Installation
7 – 23 November 2024
LUCA – Luxembourg Center for Architecture

Commissioner : Ministry of Culture
Organiser : LUCA – Luxembourg Center for Architecture 
Project Coordination : Maribel Casas, Marija Marić 
Technical Coordination : Thomas Miller
Project Communication : Giulia Zatti
Visual Identity : Our Polite Society
Publication Partner : e-flux

The event and publication are based on the Down to Earth project for the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia (2023).