Paper short abstract:

This paper explores ways of imagining futures in outer space by drawing on 3 co-creative filmmaking workshops hosted in Thailand and Indonesia. I discuss the workshop design and compare their short film outcomes, proposing a montage-inspired method to disrupt conventional cosmic imaginaries.

Paper long abstract:

STS scholars have long emphasised the significance of imagination (Jasanoff and Kim 2009) and anticipation (Messeri and Vertesi 2015) in co-constituting technoscientific social worlds. However, their intangible and speculative nature challenge traditional research methods of field observation, historical analyses and spoken exchanges, calling for multimodal approaches that can capture the abstract and difficult-to-articulate.

This paper explores the potential of arts-based methods to research how communities imagine futures of human space exploration. I specifically draw on three collaborative filmmaking workshops in Thailand and Indonesia in 2018/19 that I developed in response to two key questions. Firstly, given the prevalence of popular science fiction tropes and aesthetics, how might we imagine outer space ‘otherwise’? Second, since envisioning, planning and preparing for futures off-Earth crosses the scientific, fictive, religious and more—from colonising Mars to searching for extraterrestrial intelligence—how might we facilitate dialogue among disparate communities?

Discussing the workshop design, this paper highlights a montage-inspired co-creative process that involved astronomers, artists, extraterrestrial believers and others to produce speculative off-Earth scenarios. Furthermore, I provide insights into the short films created in each workshop, alongside the sensory, ethical, and philosophical discussions surrounding human space exploration that went into their making. Through this case study, I advocate for the active co-construction of worlds by both participants and researchers alike, proposing montage as a methodological tool for disrupting conventional cosmic imaginaries.