Project: Space Junk

Date and Time: Monday & Tuesday, August 18 & 19, 8:30am–5:00pm Pacific Time

Location: East Wing Music Hall (on-site only)

Created and presented by:

Christine Hegel, Professor of Anthropology, Western Connecticut State University
Luke Cantarella, Professor and Chair of Film and Screen Studies, Pace University

Design fictions built on top of ethnographic truths create a playful space for hard conversations and alternate reckonings. Set in the year 2044, Project: Space Junk invites attendees to consider a parallel circular economy for space debris, rendered as a future in which freelance space pickers collect and redeem valuable debris from low earth orbit (LEO). The multimedia installation troubles the dream of scaling up our capacity to capture and manage discard flows and contemplates the question of how to – and who gets to – care for the commons in late capitalism.

Christine Hegel is Professor of Anthropology at Western Connecticut State University with research interests in labor and work, discard and circular economy politics, and experimental and multi-modal analysis. She has regularly collaborated with anthropologists, artists, and designers on projects that use design strategies and practices to extend anthropological analysis. Since 2018, her research has focused on container redemption workers and advocacy in New York City to examine valuation, autonomy, and power in the Wasteocene.

Luke Cantarella is a scenic and video projection designer for stage, screen, and interactive experiences and the Chair of Film and Screen Studies at Pace University. He has designed on projects at the World Trade Organization, regional theaters across the United States (Seattle Rep, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Yale Rep) and major opera companies (Santa Fe Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera). He has also designed scenery for film and tv, including Julie & Julia and the HBO limited series The Plot Against America.