“A Strange New Nature” — My Contribution to the KOSMICA Playlist Series
Space is, for almost everybody, imaginary.
Only about 500 people have been there. For the rest of us, our ideas about space — and what is possible there — are mediated by science fiction, false-color telescopic images, scientific articles, and enthusiastic narratives about Mars. But these are just reflections of the realities of space — a diverse set of cosmologies about a place that most of us will never go.
Space is also not monolithic. There are many ways to be “in space”: on the surface of a planet, in orbit around a celestial object, inside of space architectures like crewed vehicles, or the International Space Station, in interstellar space, or on a moon with no atmosphere.
Our opinions about what should happen there are just as diverse. Our ideas about space travel have always been couched in political narratives as much as cosmic fascination.
As I curated these songs, I reflected on these multiple realities and tried to render their diversity. In the end, of course, it betrays some of my own cosmology, composed from themes of silence and stillness, cosmic meditation, and a strange new nature.
