Strangelands

StrangeLands opens with the story of the Afronauts depicted by Cristina de Middel of a reimagining of the true story of a Zambian science teacher named Edwuard Makuka who in 1964 decided to train the first African crew to travel to the moon. His plan was to use an aluminium rocket to send a woman, two cats and a missionary into Space. First the moon, then Mars, using a catapult system. He founded the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Astronomical Research to start training his Afronauts at his headquarters.  Other landings are evidenced by Richard Ducker’s abstract, meteorite-like sculptures suggesting an anthropomorphised alien form; staged pre-CGI props of displacement, desire and a loss of confidence in the present. Illusions continue in Gibson / Martelli's world of virtual reality —  their piece ‘Golem (mudman)' refers to the ancient Jewish mythical creature, magically animated from clay, a digital image compiled from hundreds of screenshots created by 3d software, emerging from the process of moulding an avatar. ‘Golem' exists somewhere between a figure and a landscape.