ALIENOCENE – THEORY/FICTION

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MIKKEL KRAUSE FRANTZEN

ALIENOCENE exhibition “Into the unknown. A journey through Science Science through journey A unknown. the “Into exhibition at the through visitors walk could museum, simultaneously, art Danish another less Brandt, or More want! I want! to the moon with a gia get to trying boy a with 1793 from engraving Blake William Lune Verne Jules the (1638), book fiction science Godwin’s Francis Louisiana, at opened Space” showing among many other Outer things: The cover of to British Bisho Worlds Inner From Ryan starring landing Gosling. Also in moon the fall of the 2018, the exhibition about“The Moon: movie a day, other

become anactiveprojectofwhatmustbe,the The moon is back. is moon The (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) by Georges Méliés, and a a and Méliés, Georges by 1902) Moon, the to Trip (A passive, speculativeexplanationofexistenceitmust –

THEORY/FICTION (New York: what isbutofoughttobe,thatis,fromthe “ mustbecometheknowledgenotonlyof On Russian Cosmism, Cosmism, Russian

nt ladder and a caption that I reads: e First Man Man First - - nprd movie inspired flux -

Nikolai and MITPress,2018 premiered in Denmark the Denmark in premiered The Man in the Moone Moone the in Man The ed. BorisGroys

Fyodorovich Le Voyage dans la la dans Voyage Le universal act

Fedorov ion.” ) p

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE diversity of materials at its disposal,” “a meager meager “a disposal,” its at unavoidable: are repetitions that means which assortment,” materials of diversity re and that infinity is thus reached through i bodies, as in the periodic system of chemical elements, and central simple of number Blanqui’s limited a only is . there that is argument the of eternity and infinity aftermath called book revolutions” jail onlywhenbrieflyliberatedby Blanqui in locate prison a Taureau, du Fort in sat mood: In 1871, the revolutionary Auguste Blanqui (1805 Age. Thosewerethedays,ahyes,thosedays… a of dreams of the future as past dreams of the future; the present much dreams so not were screen cinema different. the across ran What no long were yet acute films an the prompted two viewer the Watching the past. gave They opportunity to stand retrospectives: in the present and l all above were Denmark in exhibitions art two the late, too years of into the changing tides of the art world’s fashions a couple boy: What do we of factory dream Hollywood. Or does it? To paraphrase William Blake’s little the by evidenced as still space about mankind dreams Clearly, world. the around theatres movie Kubrick’s Stanley of Fiction.” And earlier this year the 50 the Bay of Morlaix across the English Channel. Here, Here, Channel. English the across Morlaix of Bay the nte tm, nte dem aohr on another moon, another dream, another time, Another bygone era, more specifically the dreams of the Space Space the of dreams the specifically more era, bygone - –

obntos Ntr hs Baqi writes, Blanqui has, Nature combinations. THEORY/FICTION –

“the stern rebel stern “the f h Prs Commune Paris the of

Eternity by the Stars, Stars, the by Eternity want want

from the galaxy today? Besides tapping 2001: A Space Odyssey Odyssey Space A 2001: - who emerged from a lifetime in in lifetime a from emerged who atn feig f nostalgia. of feeling lasting . . h bo i about is book The th nfinite combinations

annivers d on a tiny island tiny a on d ook back at futures in the immediate immediate the in was shown in in shown was ary edition i

–

wrote a a wrote “ little -

1881) They They the the 2

3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE the last sigh of a disappointed (and incarcerated) incarcerated) de Taureau.Atruly cosmicresignation. (and disappointed immob a same the monotony, of same “the contemplating revolutionary, sigh last the infinite.” the in performance same same the monotony, endless and struts on its legs. Unfazed, eternity plays the same The scorn. immobility in the foreign stars. The deepest the with along with the globe that has borne the burden of its pride own inhabiting its prison like an immensity, only to drown soon its by infatuated humanity, greatne noisy a stage, the narrow on everywhere, and Always terrestrial camp, the same drama, the same set, on the same it. with disappears and earth each on up locked is progress call we “What 1939: of second preface to the arcades project, the in resignation utter of state a called Benjamin Walter by the stars is melancholic variations h can we all and to sun akin something is the under new nothing left is There return. eternal Nietzsche’s is there all eventually and is exhausted, cosmos in possibility combinatorial Every heat and als weight just light, but not darkness,” is and void universe ice, the “nothingness, if to Even repetition. Resorting on based infinite. the repetitions becomes populatenecessary.” to combinations i elements, of variety small a such and plan monotonous a such “with ility in the foreign stars” in the dungeon of the Fort – s tikn fr tef o e h uies and universe the be to itself for thinking ss,

THEORY/FICTION . “At heart,” Blanqui thus writes, “man’s eternity t is difficult to engender enough different different enough engender to difficult is t

p fr r wa Baqi terms Blanqui what are for ope , ”

t s eetees depressing. nevertheless is it , ” before ending the book in what ii

In this , infinity is iv

universe repeats itself This is, in the book, the in is, This

the so

- called exposé o “force, “force, o lucky lucky iii

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE however, to abandon the spirt and sink into a permanent permanent a u into state ofcosmicpessimism. sink lead and not spirt the should abandon to That however, whatever. or Mars, to travel try actually to money the have want who people Valley, Silicon in spirits kindred similar fate in the hands of capitalists like Elon Musk and of nightmare the into contemporary work? Russian c morphed not dream this Has life: a perverted form. For instance, the dream of uniting art and garde projects waned over the years, other were realized in was space, outer mention to not space, of idea very the death; techno a dreamt gardists galaxies the compared to and the one sun in Blanqui’s the book. stars,These the of view different very a find in texts several and 2017 Berlin in Welt der Kulturen der Haus at exhibition an of Boris Groys (who else?) and published in 2018, on the basis name same the of anthology an of essay review text: present become known as Russian cosmism. Which is the topic of the to later was what for foundation theoretical the provided unorthodox were, it Fyodorovich An . the 19 no

th t a nightmare but a utopian dream. utopian a but nightmare a t –

Same time, different place, different project: As As project: different place, different time, Same THEORY/FICTION century was coming to an end, something happened in Fedorov, formulated a set of radical radical of set a formulated Fedorov, usa csim Mr seiial, t s a is it specifically, More cosmism. Russian philosopher, Christian orthodox

–

ideas about the cosmos, ideas that that ideas cosmos, the about ideas

- cetfc ra o defeating of dream scientific e osmism seems to have suffered a - . flux

– I R In .

to become immortal, or or immortal, become to ussian cosmism, we we cosmism, ussian

While some avant some While , , edited by by edited –

and, as and, Nikola avant –

and and s, s, - i -

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE o et, t lo akd a marked cosmism and Marxism. Even Ernst Bloch, who considered death also it death, to relation the for As museum. and state technology, and life politics, and art between separation any be to longer no a museum (6 own in population was at stake. life This is The where, to biocosmists. borrow the from Groys’ to according be should, it and cannot could It control. that biopolitical to subjected thing one the is death that agree not do biocosmism, sense of the word. But in contrast to Foucault, cosmism, or a had cosmists all, andfreedomoftravelinuniversalspace.” Russian the foreword, “technosc their in note Wood Kuan Brian and Vidokle Anton As cosmos. populate and precarious a in state of overpopulation. The solution: To travel into space itself find soon may Earth planet life, soul dead the all and dies ever one very well become a problem in terms of space. Because if no could which everyone, and all for wanted They dead. already were who those all to project this extend to li to able be to entropy? They wanted , they wanted abolish everyone say, alive to also is which reversible, time make head, its on irreversibility turn not Why time. in restriction simpl not was both time and space. As for time, the enemy was conquer death. to wanted It interplanetarianism. and immortalism The project was deeply biopolitical, in the Foucauldian of project dual a had cosmism Russian Basically, troduction, the cosmists tried to turn the state into –

THEORY/FICTION ientific vision of immortality, resurrection for for resurrection immortality, of vision ientific - vi 7). In the ideal world of biocosmists there was

y does not have death as its o its as death have not does

a scandal, it was a completely unnecessary completely a was it scandal, a ve forever. But not only that: They wanted wanted They that: only not But forever. ve

rca dfeec between crucial s are brought back to to back brought are s and and uter limit. They limit. uter death of the the of death v

Death 5

3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE the otherway,from chaostoorder,from cosmos. go to wished they instead, (3); chaos” into cosmos the of did not celebrate “the extinction of the sun and the descent “futurist Groys, to According us!” however, to “Russian Cosmism end proposed a counterproject” no to this is there but perish “All's well that begins well and has no end/ the world point: some at proclaiming Future), the of Men Strong the (al Strongmen Futurist some by buried and sky this decadent symbol of the old world is torn down from the abstraction in one. And total the sun? During and utopia Total square: black The time. first the s black his that occasion designer, stage as creating both the set worked and the costumes; it who was also for Malevich, this was So well. as Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchonykh who were involved mus opera experimental Gesamtkunstwerk from the period is cosmonauts engineers, were They polymaths: were them of Most reason. a for confident said be must It hubris. of verge group of people, and they constantly found themselves on the “a realandtotalvictoryoverdeath”(104). Cosmists, death his work Non “strongest the ic was made by Mikhail Matiushin, the text written by by written text the Matiushin, Mikhail by made was ic modest and humble a not were cosmists the Evidently, . –

h boomss i. n h wrs of words the In did. biocosmists The THEORY/FICTION The Principle of Hope, Hope, of Principle The

ic project of Russian avant Valerian Muravyev, they craved nothing less than than less nothing craved they Muravyev, Valerian

- Utopia staged in Saint Petersburg in 1913. The 1913. in Petersburg Saint in staged

, quare was shown to the public for for public the to shown was quare ” to cite one of the headings of of headings the of one cite to ” .

–

did did not dream of overcoming , though, that they were were they that though, , and artists. A famous famous A artists. and Victory over the Sun, Sun, the over Victory - garde.”(4) The cosmists Victory of the Sun, Sun, the of Victory

ternatively, ternatively, n o one f the the f an an

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE ril “h Ed f rhnod Lmtes Kinship Limitless Orphanhood, of End “The article travel intospace andaroundinspace.Simple. boat electric to then and aerostat” so a of instruments technological free to is plan extend the lives of the living and bring back the dead, the having deployed biology, the “art of resurrection Architecture but objective nor extension. subjective neither ‘projective’ and that the common task is one o is true that argued Fedorov Here posthumously. published was H copies. anonym written during his lifetime, and the few things he did publish were Dostovejskij, and Tolstov both book.” a usually object, hard some but pillow a not head his under placing newspapers, “ on slept and Niko was of Ivanovich and second cousin of the anarchist P.A. Kropotkin, Futurism describes how Fedorov, Esoteric on the subject, George M. Young’s Fyodorovich the was

an obscure Moscow librarian, who lived on bread and tea s f elig o lnu, eoo epess i the in expresses, Fedorov Blanqui, to replying if As and “Astronomy anthology, in figures that text the In As stated above, the founding father of Russian cosmism –

THEORY/FICTION is main work, main is usa Otoo Crsin philosopher, Christian Orthodox Russian

, Fedorov Fdrv as u hs rnis plan grandiose his out lays Fedorov ” , ul ad icltd n lmtd ubr of number limited a in circulated and ously (56 ” hmbc tuk smtms co sometimes trunk, humpback a the Earth from gravity by using the the using by gravity from Earth the

a “at Ship “Earth an ) (1829 transform the illegitimate son of Prince Pavel The Philosophy of the Common Task, Common the of Philosophy The – a Fdrv n Hs Followers His and Fedorov lai 1903). The authoritative source authoritative The 1903). vii

planet Earth into “a great great “a into Earth planet ady publish hardly Fedorov, who Fedorov, The Russian Cosmists. The The Cosmists. Russian The - ald lgtig rod “lightning called , (6 itne to intended (56) ” f radical life was known to known was

ed ee with vered ,

” (57) to , anything . ” which which ” Nikolai

After After , -

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE tpaim Booms i raitc wie nrhs is while realistic, is Biocosmism utopianism: of abuse). He even sets up an opposition between realism and utopian not and scientific are ideas his that readers his convince inspiration foraspiringastronauts suchasYuriGargarin. of source endless an providing turn in while 1,” Sputnik would for foundation that the papers lay eventually “the writes and his possible,” of some fantasies of realization the make would that formulas Young, M. George to according develops, the by inspired deeply wri is Tsiolkovsky hand, one the On is. he than soberer be not could writes, he positivist, A (133) knowledge.” precise on based conclusion mathematical alive sense, devoid of feeling and that ev and or of synthesis idiosyncratic “Panpsychism, his that announces in Feels Similarly, Everything (93). mathematics on In of vision side. biopolitical his their on Mathematics”, Productive science Universal have they biocosmists, man. spaceship earth phrase own Fedorov’s in , of gazing down at us.” without souls and that are now coldly and as if with sadness “t book the in reprinted not is pplt te evny sar wrd ta ae now are that worlds starry heavenly, the populate o tings of Jules Verne; on the other hand, he actually actually he hand, other the on Verne; Jules of tings ix Alexander Svyatogor also goes to great lengths to to lengths great to goes also Svyatogor Alexander

– However, in the eyes of Fedorov, and his fellow fellow his and Fedorov, of eyes the in However,

THEORY/FICTION (like most Marxists, he use he Marxists, most (like , – – ”

which leads to the idea that matter is not , as noth is not “a daydream, but a strictly strictly a but daydream, “a not is viii Kntni Tilosy explicitly Tsiolkovsky Konstantin ”

One can easily conceive of these ideas ing but the dreams of a ridiculous “mastering and managing natur managing and “mastering erything erything is thus, in a certain Russian Cosmism, Russian Valerian Muravyev bases bases Muravyev Valerian s the 1957 launching of of launching 1957 the

utopianism as a term a as utopianism of crew and “captain “ the mathematical mathematical the

his ambition ambition his e” e” “A x

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE texts and a short science fiction story by the writer writer the Utopia, by Bolshevik first story the of author fiction Bogdanov, Alexander science short a and texts anth the that, to antidote is a fairly unwarranted optimism, even for a cosmist. As an and perfection satisfaction, joy, only contains generally cosmos the “that concludes ultimately biocosmist the in fu world, new the in survives” that “all Kaluga,” in laboratory homemade a in models this example, “self for Tsiolkovsky, optimism. cosmic comical almost an of impression an leaves optimists, notmadmen”(84) are we “But later: bit a add, to need the feel does he Yet personal orbited the Sun, like a goat tethered to realize its shepherd.” (83) to is a horrifying fact that from time immemorial the how Eart It Biocosmist. the of will wise the of by steered spaceship a question the immortality.” (83) The goal is clear: “Our Earth must become to down at declares, emphatically social new (76) the of basis order.” true the is cosmos the in life real and death here,” life(74) and real“The struggle mean for immortality We and death. is evil supreme The cosmos. statements such as “The supreme good is immortal life bold in found be can doubt or ambivalence of amount least man who knows which way to go and which way not to. Not the an thought cowardly anarchists to antidote “an utopian, which is why he considers cosmism nothing less than ue i “apns ad pleasure and “happiness is ture, - anthology The optimists. were biocosmists the And educated eccentric school teacher working with wooden –

THEORY/FICTION

n h tx “icsit Poetics “Biocosmist text the In . (2 Hrh od. u Sytgr s a is Svyatogor But words. Harsh (72) ”

h vr ote: Nw e’ get let’s “Now outset: very the lg icue to theoretical two includes ology –

what arelief. weak d relentless and sometimes and relentless . ” (151) At the end he he end the At (151) ” - ild contemporary willed xi

.

” (155) This This (155) ” writes that that writes

, in the ” h has

he 9

3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE emtc yl o monotony of cycle hermetic soul his in emptiness anxious and “heavy a is There anymore. work and ov but rather boring. One day, the main character Fride who is that bliss shows pure not is anthology, life eternal of the utopia technoscientific in text last the story, of “eternal blossoming youth” has come true (215). Yet this distant future, where death has been d three textsbyBogdanovandoftheanthologyasawhole. sci The 1928. given that Bogda (205). people old to young from blood of transfusion the and testicles” “fresh of transplantation the through age old of problem cybernetics and theory one secondprecurso a tektology, the on work In groundbreaking life). of and that does not accept the given, or what is, as the sole goal stand as a kind of slogan for biocosmism as such: A movement goal sole the interested in the historical moment when “ things, other among is, Bogdanov texts theoretical the of one first the In party. Bolshevik the of control for fight the in Lenin to lost eventually and with fought who Russia prerevolutionary in people the of one and Mars, on utopia Mars, Red er 1000 years old is simply not “interested” in his life life his in “interested” not simply is old years 1000 er Titled –

THEORY/FICTION a 1908 science fiction book about a communist communist a about book fiction science 1908 a , motlt day Immortality ” (217) and all he can see and feel is “a “a is feel and see can he all and (217) ” -

fi short story, however, is the glory of the the of glory the is however, story, short fi In hindsight this reads fairly tragicomical tragicomical fairly reads this hindsight In nov died of one such transfusion himself in

and norm of life” (this could in fact in could (this life” of norm and –

. Bgao’ soy s e i a in set is story Bogdanov’s , e rts bu fgtn the fighting about writes he ” (221) The feeling is one of of one is feeling The (221) ” .

efeated and the dream the given given the –

t systems to r at f his of part stopped stopped the

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE use a bomb to make sure that no remains are there to to one “After Blanqui: there of worthy and reminiscent note suicide are remains no that sure resurrect. make to bomb a use of problem the back brought being face thus suicides where and past the of thing a is death where society” “psychemized thoroughly a is society future This 2039. year the in up wakes suddenly wrong, grotesquely gone congress futurological a attended Solaris Congress fiction: In the speculative and satirical the suicidepoi most likely, resurrected after having killed oneself, making being, of irony the and life, eternal of age an in oneself kill to wanting even of irony The irony. double a harbors The only solution he can come up with is suicide. This idea (22 torture.” unbearable an is life “Eternal it: curses of Instead singing a hymn to the universe, to eternal life, Fride immortality.thus of sadness heartbreaking nearly of world the to sadness fundamental in his followers.” there is “ same eternally. endlessly, returns; everything the time for mind my thousandth to returns itself’ repeats ’everything that idea very the even repeated, get all said actions, desire, been has everything before). Or in the words of Fride: “Our thoughts, feelings, that sentence the (including dit, déjà . This problem is not unfamiliar to the genre of science As –

THEORY/FICTION ten years earlier, the cosmonaut Ijon Tichy,

ceze ak rts n h book the in writes Wark McKenzie (1971) by Stanislaw Lem, who wrote his masterpiece a xiii the feeling that eve that feeling the

pessimism in Bogdanov that is sometimes lacking

In ntless inthefirstplace. . ” (224) Everything repeats itself, itself, repeats Everything (224) ” motlt Day Immortality to life to

against xii rything has been said before before said been has rything

There There is, in other words, a Fie is wie a writes first Fride ,

their will, unless they they unless will, their motlt Day Immortality The Futurological Futurological The

Molecular Red, Red, Molecular Same same but but same Same having having . The The . 3)

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE orpe ad appropriat and corrupted cosmism Russian interplanetarianism of tenets basic the of some token, same the By mausoleum. not if museum, gigantic a into state the transforming in succeed did that Stalin’s regime of terror, this biopolitical Gesamt Pre plainly are Others labor). of organization scientific the of problem the solving of way a as time control to attempt Muravyev like Marxists developed before Pre clearly are ideas the this blend of “higher magic” and today, cosmism Russian understand to we are How one: following the is directly confronted be to “Everything repeatsitself.”(226) (22 matter.” living eternally in spirit wise Nature had intended for them: death and the renewal of what people immortal the grant fire this Let immortality. to people led and fire stole Prometheus “Divine fire: on of act I final irony, like a some Pr antinomies. in Then, nature’s (225) suicide.” of with it one resolve is This innovation. for yearns being entire whose genius, of man a for intolerable especially repetitions, of cycle a is Earth on life that thousand years of my I have come to the - Stalinist The question that has propelled this review but remains –

THEORY/FICTION –

the theory of relativity (although esoteric ht s o a, eeoe bfr Josef before developed say, to is that ometheus from the future, he sets himself

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have historically been perverted, perverted, been historically have d y ocs oe r es foreign less or more forces by ed used Einstein’s theories in his his in theories Einstein’s used -

Einsteinian Einsteinian “higher mathematics” .

–

– ) i ls words: last His 5)

immortalism that is to say, say, to is that controversial ? conclusion conclusion xiv kunstwerk

Some of

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE rts h sci the writes novelistic form a couple of years later, Michel Houellebecq ultimate fantasy.” question of immortality. We all want immortality. It is our Baudrillard stat ,” the and Human the beyond Cloning Solution: Final “The called chapter a in book, the of lines opening the In rage. the all are sheep the Dolly and cloning which around delivered at University of Irvine in 1999. This is the time Illusion appropriate year of 2000, Jean Baudrillard’s book 2003), ideas of immortality suddenly sprung to life. In the “About men and immortality.” i asks character female a it?” masters oftheuniverse. male) (white become to aspiration The cosmism: Russian of macho the to unrelated not certainly is This realism. does on in contemporary forms of acce Bogdanov which problematize in his sci technorationalism, Promethean the is there that, of top On (79) nonsensical.” therefore are a system adding: “Any objections to the Soviet state as an oppressive before anarchism, against polemics his in Svyatogor writes necessary,” is coercion of form “some state: totalitarian control over nature. Its a positive view complete of a potentially achieve very and space conquer to ambition were there to begin with. Biocosmism’s frontier imperialist myth tendencies and the these of other few a quite course, and Of etc. endeavors capitalism, Nazism, NASA, it, to Or simply to become immortal. “It’s interesting, isn’t –

THEORY/FICTION cting to suppress individual freedoms and the like the and freedoms individual suppress to cting s ulse, ae o a eis f lect of series a on based published, is - fi novel novel fi es: “The question concerning cloning is the xvi

As if responding to that question in a - fi

- h Possi The story but which nonetheless lives xv

Around W2K (the novel is from o Delillo’s Don n lerationism and speculative bility of an Island Island an of bility Cosmopolis, Cosmopolis, The Vital Vital The nd total total nd - ures ures core in 13

3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE ecr pls” h atce doe article The pills.” mercury he forever; mortality supposedly live eating by himself poisoned to trying himself killed accidentally Around 200 B.C., the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, bot is immortality for quest human the since though, believe, to hard It’s death. about and life about know we what change are based on real, emerging science that could fundamentally aren’t being ridiculous, or even vainglorious; their quests ti “These mankind: as old as be might fantasy the fact, In new. really it is nor mortalityscience, in unfounded not is immortality of accepting fantasy immodest this that explain of death.” “cure someday notionto hopes the “incomprehensible finds co Ellison, Oracle, Larry 10,000; to live to is goal his says Internet, Russian the of “godfather” the Itskov, with billionaires, Compared he doesn’t 120. seem particularly be ambitious. Dmitry to live to plans details: “P not the only one with such dreams. As an article in Newsweek biochemistry, digests around 250 pills every day, and he is plan who Kurzweil, Ray capitalists. venture contemporary among thrives mainly do want that. To live forever. To defeat death. That fantasy really who life. of question a more fact in is epigram novel’s Bogdanov’s in was it realized, as Just is dull. immortality quite be to out of turns world fantasy this in life fantasy although this where 2005, xvii acet n ltee wt ctsrpi failures. catastrophic with littered and ancient h –

THEORY/FICTION And it is no exaggeration to say, that men usually say,thatmenusually And itisnoexaggerationto eter Thiel, the billionaire co – ,” and Sergey Brin, co Brin, Sergey and ,”

“

s to live forever with the help of of help the with forever live to s Who among Who you xviii o mnin odnv but Bogdanov mention not s

deserves eternal life eternal deserves

The article goes on to to on goes article The motlt Day. Immortality - - founder of Google, of founder founder of PayPal, some other tech tech other some wants tans of tech tech of tans - - founder of of founder preventing preventing

eternal eternal

?” The The –

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE tendency unfortunate to its or frontier, final the in called is Trek its Stark what to towards aspirations point its colonialism, would s settler one a where is interpretation There pessimist standpoint. contemporary a from that there are basically two ways of interpreting biocosmism the anthology lead us to dismiss Russian cosmism altogether. After reading is capitalismifnotthisfinalsolution? the for investment, reinvestment”? vigorous and profits and of accumulation growth corporate for “medium a What is infinity if not, to quote from quote to Marx’s famous thirst, lines, for theirthe “living with blood o Valley, Silicon of vampires the in these with its world nightmares) of zero and one; where is it more alive than (or dream dreams of immortality more present than in the digital world, of technological advancements kind rouse what though, and machine, body, mind and computer. The question remains, an increasingly deep entanglement of human and inhuman, man at leastforpeoplewithampleamountsofmoney. Mars in his SpaceX famous the Musk, Elon entrepreneur who wishes mention not does also It death). overcome to attempt the in themselves killing accidently men of tradition tragicomical the (in have could easily it hs ciia questions critical These witnessing are we that doubt no is there rate, any At –

THEORY/FICTION promote Russian Cosmism Russian - rocket. This is now a real possibility

a eugenic utopia of white supremacy. One to leave Earth behind and travel t , I have come to the conclusion .

n rsrain sol not should reservations and . For example: Where is the Cosmopolis Cosmopolis

yet again, f labour”?

keptical, xix

What – o

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE not afraid to declare: No, it cannot be done. It is is It done. be cannot it No, declare: to afraid not and that nothing ever changes, are so cocksure that control they under are everything have they that show to want both a knowledge and common sense advance only be established retrospectively. We cannot determine in can not or realistic is something not or whether that mean question that a fact actual in is it that also but question, ideological deeply a is question this that realize to important only verdict on the question: Is this realistic or not? It is not ca and can things common sense is always in a rush to pass judgments on which and reason historical of voice the Yet space. into Sputnik first the sending eventually in pivotal was Tsiolkovsky of writings scientific the how Recall . become fact in hav envisioned or suggested biocosmists the things the of utterly not was project its that other lessons to be drawn. First of all, it is worth nothing are there cosmism, Russian reactualizing and understanding in cosmism called aptly has Winslow Aaron writer the what whole story. wrong entirely be not the on biocosmism, moment when the utopia turns into a ofdystopia. And one would utopia the of aspect toxic the on future and who does not? communist and biocosmist this to access has Who ask: would future Los Angeles Review of Books. of Review Angeles Los The story of Russian cosmism does not (only) end in in end (only) not does cosmism Russian of story The –

THEORY/FICTION

in a review of the anthology edited by Boris Groys Groys Boris by edited anthology the of review a in – solution is realistic. But some people, people who

ept or rcos xeine accumulated , precious our despite

can nnot be done, always in a hurry to give a give to hurry a in always done, be nnot only be resolved in

, of course. Yet it would not be the be not would it Yet course. of , xx

One would, in short, put emphasis –

if a xxi present

un The realistic. Quite a few a Quite realistic.

retrospect. By this I re is another way of of way another is re

proposal regardin capitalism capitalism g e 16

3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE reality Russian cosmists can be considered such realists of a larger can larger reality.” visionaries who writers poets, need freedom: “will weremember times dark these in how the about spoke she did talk, same the so In kings.” of right inescapable; divine seems power Its capitalism. in at speech a in from 2009. Or as science fiction book his in out pointed Fisher Mark as way. Capitalism is the only realism, it is realism as such, is it (if possible to imagine alternatives alternatives to it) are treated the today, same new) capitalism (the with became they until reality. Until consensus changed. It is pretty fiction, much the same science utopian and unrealistic as perceived undoubtedly were discoveries the on had Logic who and ones History the realists, the were they present, their in age, own their in But them. of out fool a made wrong, that said have They thing. a such proposal, how foolish and childish to even suggest such sense. No, they said. Throughout history they have rejected challenged consensus, when someone dared to question common someone When this. do to way another is there maybe said, the internet, gay marriages, or space travels. When someone about democracy, votes for women, the abol talked someone When No. said: they flat, not and round is Earth the that say to them approached someone When again. the beginning of time have said the same thing over and over unrealistic. Naïve. Uto The anthology does an excellent job of –

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even if the cosmists do not exactly fit Le Guin’s the National Book Awards in 2014: in Awards Book National the

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showing how the t o a of sts “We live “We at al l 17

3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE cos h Egih Channel. English alternative , a different or eschatology, the across cell prison his from saw he imagined or saw Blanqui that monotony and repetition pure of space interstellar the or Schopenhauer resigned in utter pessimism with in the 19 me fills spaces dread” infinite these of silence eternal hor filled with that Pascal infinity silent and cold the dystopia: pure a necessarily not is Cosmos (viii) resources.” “infinite of territory a anthology, the to foreword the from phrase that the fact thatwehavealreadybecomeone. the with deal to are we how but force, cosmic a become can at the dawn of the twenty latte Bible.” the of reader eccentric an of revelation as a new project of survival, albeit not in the form of the itself announces Fedorov] by proposed one [the task common Norwe the Vagant in writes Leivestad Høyer contemporary,” Eirik our Bogdanov makes Anthropocene In ever. than relevant fiction science the have noted ho bottles, the things and to put things in. Several intellectuals containers bags, carrier on but objects, phallic the that do not put emphasis on the Things, hunting sticks, of fiction from 1986, in which she calls for th un bag carrier her in out laid as fabulation of model r, however, also perceptively points out, the question

, h never the ), – that “in the light of the thesis of Anthropocene, the

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- - ending lmn o booms ses more seems biocosmism of element Molecular Red Red Molecular - first first century is no longer how we Nichts Nichts xxv

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Eric Hobsbawm, Eric

Russian Cosmism, Cosmism, Russian For heuristic purposes alone Ibid., 149. Blanqui, Louis

– cosmism and biocosmism and use the two terms interchangeably, interchangeably, terms two the use and biocosmism and cosmism -

uut Blanqui, Auguste THEORY/FICTION (New York:ContraMundumPr Eternity by the Stars, Stars, the by Eternity

- imagination Age of Capital Capital of Age e.org/editorial/articles/comets d Brs ry (e Yr: e York: (New Groys Boris ed. xxvi

may be right in claiming that space space that claiming in right be may - gdanov, a tektology, with which to to which with tektology, a gdanov, today Eternity by the Stars. An Astronomical Astronomical An Stars. the by Eternity exile; , I am goin nd destroys our world, and one way (London: Abacus, 2000), p. 37. For an For 37. p. 2000), Abacus, (London: . While we do not need to become p, 88. ess, 2013),pp.111;120;113. g to pass over the distinction

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE of Books, Books, of Reclaiming Full Possibility xxi Queer already here.Itjust isn is future and “The Gibson: William quotes she end, that To 19). p. 2018), Fiction atte various afrofuturist overall projects (Alexis Lothian: her in temporalities” “capitalist colonial challenges and and confronts she book, the In access? denied is Who futurity? from excluded is Who Control fiction: and future to relation of xx whirl, inradiantspin,aconsciousness savedfromvoid,”(206). Illusion a in limits, given the the “outside living and xix Death p. 77 Ehrenreich’s Barbara Life, from article this to reference xviii International, 2007). xvii Press, 2000),p. xvi xv xiv 1985), p. xiii Verso, xii xi x in 1924 smuggled into then and banned immediately but revolution Russian the after years few novel dystopian cosmists’s the that as however, stated, contrasts be collectivity on emphasis must it history, literary Dream The in Gud!,” leve Leivestad for this reference (Eirik Høyer Leivestad, “Gud er død, lenge Dostoyevsky: ix viii and gloo – frequently asked question Cosmists, in Russian intellectual history, far offer Russian Followers The His gerontology and eschatology and thaumaturgy, to anthrosophy, and theosophy to relation Its dimensions. Russian cosmism: Its dimen mystical, Fedorov esoteric the occult, on focuses religious, Young book, spiritual, his shamanistic In 69. p. 2012), Nikolai vii waves. various movement’s

Cf. Young,

“What Is To Be Done?””, and, also, an alternative to “Western doom doom “Western to alternative an also, and, Done?””, Be To Is “What In her new book, Alexis Lothian asks a lot of analogous questions in in lot ofanalogousquestions asksa AlexisLothian In hernewbook, Don DeLillo, Young,

s s el nw ti ws h tte f sot tr by story short a of title the was this known well is As Young, Jean Baudrillard, Jean DeLillo, McKenzie

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The Russian Cosmists Russian The THEORY/FICTION August 18, 2018 (https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/russian The Russian Cosmists, Cosmists, Russian The 82. - ihe ad aeul cniee ases o h most the to answers considered carefully and sighted Cosmopolis, Cosmopolis, Wark, The Russian Cosmists, Cosmists, Russian The

the United States, where it was published, in translation,

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4, 2017, p. 38). Apropos Dostoyevsky and Russian Russian and Dostoyevsky Apropos 38). p. 2017, 4, of a Ridiculous Man Ridiculous a of

The Possibility of an Island Island an of Possibility The p. 207. The novel also addresses the dream of of dream the addresses also novel The 207. p. ’t veryevenlydistributed.” (New York:Picador,2003),p.103. - – some

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3/1/2019 ALIENOCENE rbe ad lxr opruiy” (quo opportunity.” luxury a for and https://slate.com/technology/2017/12/space problem Representation and need space. We need sustainability in this . Space is a luxury Will his in character a for model as xxvi World The xxv somewhat 162). (Young, matter.” living the other on of instead autotrophy, s , as autotrophic of to subsisting heterotrophic from topic transformed be can “humans the in least (at on idea Houellebecqian thoughts fascinating mankind has become a geological and the , the latter designating the first time in history that languages developed the influential ecological concepts of the biosphere Ivanovich Vernadsky. This polymath who reportedly spoke at least fifteen xxiv quote isinNorwegian;thecrudetranslationmine. xxiii co biological also: Leivestad,“Guderdød,lengeleveGud!”,pp.42 and geological example for works, Bogdanov’s and in found be can Gaia ecology, on thoughts useful xxii space cosmism

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Pascal, Wark, One figure conspicuously absent from Groys’ anthology is Vla is anthology Groys’ from absent conspicuously figure One Word for word, Kim Stanley Robinson, who has used Bogdanov as a a as Bogdanov used has who Robinson, Stanley Kim word, for Word human

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