Terra Fiction

The idea of terraformation was once the domain of writers and artists. We’re entering a new space race to colonise and terraform the universe. Silicon Valley companies like SpaceX, Google and Planetary Resources are in the front seat. As we edge closer towards inevitable environmental collapse these big tech companies are scrambling to colonise new habitable worlds on distant planets. By shooting a cherry-red Tesla car into space, they shape the future narrative of man in space. But what are we leaving behind on Earth? If today’s technological leaps aren’t improving our natural environments than what legacy will we inherit in worlds abroad?

At Coded Matter(s): Terra Fiction FIBER and De Brakke Grond invite speakers working in the fields of art, literature, science, design and digital culture to reassess man’s future relationship with the earth and the cosmos. Today, visionary artists and researchers are turning back to our earth to imagine futures that position humans and our technologies inside a more balanced ecology. Our programme presents alternative perspectives of what this future could look like. Speculative designers, art-scientists and writers will share their research and evolving ideas to challenge the big-tech model.

Terra Fiction is the second installment of FIBER’s ongoing Coded Matter(s): Worldbuilding project. These lecture events question the design of contemporary world visions and technological narratives, which are contributing to greater socio-economic inequality and environmental destruction

This edition is supported by the Creative Industry Fund NL, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, The New Institute, De Waag, Border Sessions.