Comments on: Zambia's fictional 1960s space programme http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Fri, 24 May 2013 17:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: ChuckTV http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645408 ChuckTV Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:34:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645408  Awesome! I'd forgotten that one.  Awesome! I’d forgotten that one.

]]> By: cub http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645396 cub Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645396  a rat done bit my sister Nell--  and Whitey's on the moon.  a rat done bit my sister Nell– 
and Whitey’s on the moon.

]]> By: puppybeard http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645304 puppybeard Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:03:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645304 The idea crossed my mind at first, but looking at the full set ( http://www.lademiddel.com/eng/ldmeng.html ), I feel there's a warm humanity to it, combined with a genuine attempt to imagine how the imagined program would look, with the goal being good-looking images. And it looks lovely. There's also something there about the DIY culture that people develop when they have an awareness of, but not access to, modern tech. Places like Zambia can serve as great examples of how inventive we are when we have to be. I do agree that some people might enjoy the pictures in a sneering kind of way, but there'll always be assholes like that. I'd like to know what a Zambian thinks, to be honest. The idea crossed my mind at first, but looking at the full set ( http://www.lademiddel.com/eng/ldmeng.html ), I feel there’s a warm humanity to it, combined with a genuine attempt to imagine how the imagined program would look, with the goal being good-looking images. And it looks lovely.

There’s also something there about the DIY culture that people develop when they have an awareness of, but not access to, modern tech. Places like Zambia can serve as great examples of how inventive we are when we have to be.

I do agree that some people might enjoy the pictures in a sneering kind of way, but there’ll always be assholes like that. I’d like to know what a Zambian thinks, to be honest.

]]> By: puppybeard http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645302 puppybeard Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:52:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645302 Really nice images, you can see more of the set here: http://www.lademiddel.com/eng/ldmeng.html Really nice images, you can see more of the set here: http://www.lademiddel.com/eng/ldmeng.html

]]> By: timquinn http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645275 timquinn Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645275 Yeah, you are wrong. This falls squarely into a current way of working and no one in the art world would see it as anything but sympathetic to Africans. Much of contemporary art is a critique of power structures and the inertia of culture. It is what is taught in art schools today. What is so refreshing about this work is that it has a fanciful surface that entertains instead of preaching. A long sought antidote to over-serious "schoolish" work. Yeah, you are wrong. This falls squarely into a current way of working and no one in the art world would see it as anything but sympathetic to Africans. Much of contemporary art is a critique of power structures and the inertia of culture. It is what is taught in art schools today. What is so refreshing about this work is that it has a fanciful surface that entertains instead of preaching. A long sought antidote to over-serious “schoolish” work.

]]> By: timquinn http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645272 timquinn Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:32:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645272 That really isn't such a stretch. The error is in saying it at all which people really resent. Leave the sub-text sub, that is where it belongs. That really isn’t such a stretch. The error is in saying it at all which people really resent. Leave the sub-text sub, that is where it belongs.

]]> By: ImmutableMichael http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645250 ImmutableMichael Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:40:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645250 No, that's Zomibia. No, that’s Zomibia.

]]> By: vonbobo http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645242 vonbobo Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645242 I don't feel like the photographer was purposely looking to offend, but I do completely understand that impression. I suppose it is up to the viewer. I saw some honesty in the work, showing more of a soul than a black and white newsprint headline can convey. At the very least it has provoked reaction, gets people thinking. I don’t feel like the photographer was purposely looking to offend, but I do completely understand that impression. I suppose it is up to the viewer. I saw some honesty in the work, showing more of a soul than a black and white newsprint headline can convey.

At the very least it has provoked reaction, gets people thinking.

]]> By: vonbobo http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645236 vonbobo Mon, 04 Feb 2013 03:38:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645236 Lol, I missed that. Lol, I missed that.

]]> By: anansi133 http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645196 anansi133 Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:55:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645196 Zambia is where zombies come from. Zambia is where zombies come from.

]]> By: echolocate chocolate http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645189 echolocate chocolate Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:31:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645189 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_launch_sites#Africa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_launch_sites#Africa

]]> By: echolocate chocolate http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645187 echolocate chocolate Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:10:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645187 It was my first thought. Not, "haha how cute, African tribespeople dressing up as astronauts" but that the <i>artist wanted me to think that</i>. So for me, I was glad the artist's statement was up front about it. It is thought-provoking... a little, anyway. The reality is that most African nations have no need (never mind the funds) to demonstrate intercontinental ballistic missile capability, which is what the space race was all about in the first place. It was my first thought. Not, “haha how cute, African tribespeople dressing up as astronauts” but that the artist wanted me to think that.
So for me, I was glad the artist’s statement was up front about it. It is thought-provoking… a little, anyway.

The reality is that most African nations have no need (never mind the funds) to demonstrate intercontinental ballistic missile capability, which is what the space race was all about in the first place.

]]> By: Jean Baptiste http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645183 Jean Baptiste Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:03:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645183 Given the subject matter, I'm surprised no one has referenced Ray Bradbury's "Way in the Middle of the Air" in The Martian Chronicles (or the follow-up story, "The Other Foot" in The Illustrated Man.) Given the subject matter, I’m surprised no one has referenced Ray Bradbury’s “Way in the Middle of the Air” in The Martian Chronicles (or the follow-up story, “The Other Foot” in The Illustrated Man.)

]]> By: ChuckTV http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645154 ChuckTV Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:42:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645154 On a related, but considerably fiercer, note, "Coon on the Moon" - Howlin' Wolf http://www.myspace.com/howlinwolf55/music/songs/coon-on-the-moon-album-version-44347392 On a related, but considerably fiercer, note, “Coon on the Moon” – Howlin’ Wolf

http://www.myspace.com/howlinwolf55/music/songs/coon-on-the-moon-album-version-44347392

]]> By: cstatman http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645150 cstatman Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:26:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645150  absolutely beat me to it!      exactly what I thought when I saw the BB headline!   :D  absolutely beat me to it!      exactly what I thought when I saw the BB headline!   :D

]]> By: Bevatron Repairman http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645135 Bevatron Repairman Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:05:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645135 It struck me as odd that the countdown was in German, so I looked a bit further: http://weirdthings.com/2010/12/a-brief-history-of-the-congolese-space-program/   -- A German company wanted to get into the rocket business, so decided to launch from Zaire. Zaire was very supportive, but it was mostly a German initiative.   It struck me as odd that the countdown was in German, so I looked a bit further: http://weirdthings.com/2010/12/a-brief-history-of-the-congolese-space-program/   — A German company wanted to get into the rocket business, so decided to launch from Zaire. Zaire was very supportive, but it was mostly a German initiative.  

]]> By: hazz http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645124 hazz Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:47:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645124 So are they using surplus elephants from the Indian space program then? So are they using surplus elephants from the Indian space program then?

]]> By: crummett http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645115 crummett Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:38:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645115 That is one stylin' space suit! That is one stylin’ space suit!

]]> By: Noctilucent Studios http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645104 Noctilucent Studios Sun, 03 Feb 2013 20:50:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645104  What was that all about? And has there ever been a successful launch to orbit from anywhere in Africa?  What was that all about? And has there ever been a successful launch to orbit from anywhere in Africa?

]]> By: millie fink http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645061 millie fink Sun, 03 Feb 2013 19:22:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645061 My thought: You're absolutely right. My thought: You’re absolutely right.

]]> By: Jean Baptiste http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645033 Jean Baptiste Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:54:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645033 My first thought about all this was that the photo essay was a kind of unfortunate, wry and semi-subtle (or unintentional?) sarcasm/putdown, or could certainly be seen as such.  The incongruity of it seems...perhaps (?) uncool.  Like in the original "Christmas in Connecticut": there's a scene where a black busboy or waiter is asked what the word "catastrophe" means, and he very unexpectedly, clearly and well-spokenly enunciates a fine definition of the word.  The humor of the scene, I suspect for most people of that time period, was akin to "haw haw haw, blacks don't talk that good in real life".  Same thing (maybe?) here: the idea of a space program in Zambia is, for first-worlders, like the idea of a brain surgeon operating out of a grass hut with dirt floor...on an operating table made out of coconuts or something.  A kind of charming, endearing Cargo-cultlike, childlike hopefulness...which is very patronizing.  Maybe I'm wrong though.  Thoughts? My first thought about all this was that the photo essay was a kind of unfortunate, wry and semi-subtle (or unintentional?) sarcasm/putdown, or could certainly be seen as such.  The incongruity of it seems…perhaps (?) uncool.  Like in the original “Christmas in Connecticut”: there’s a scene where a black busboy or waiter is asked what the word “catastrophe” means, and he very unexpectedly, clearly and well-spokenly enunciates a fine definition of the word.  The humor of the scene, I suspect for most people of that time period, was akin to “haw haw haw, blacks don’t talk that good in real life”.  Same thing (maybe?) here: the idea of a space program in Zambia is, for first-worlders, like the idea of a brain surgeon operating out of a grass hut with dirt floor…on an operating table made out of coconuts or something.  A kind of charming, endearing Cargo-cultlike, childlike hopefulness…which is very patronizing.  Maybe I’m wrong though.  Thoughts?

]]> By: Guillaume REMY http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1645019 Guillaume REMY Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:32:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1645019 Zaïre (Congo) Had a "real" space program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5pJpd9Vi_U From : "Mobutu King of Zaïre" (Mobutu, Roi du Zaire)  Zaïre (Congo) Had a “real” space program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5pJpd9Vi_U
From : “Mobutu King of Zaïre” (Mobutu, Roi du Zaire) 

]]> By: Joseph Francis http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1644989 Joseph Francis Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:02:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1644989  Yes, but that was back in 1957, 1958. It was a different time, you understand.  Yes, but that was back in 1957, 1958. It was a different time, you understand.

]]> By: John Vance http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1644985 John Vance Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:57:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1644985 Space is one cold motherfucker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xJzAYYrX8 Space is one cold motherfucker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xJzAYYrX8

]]> By: Robert Holmén http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1644982 Robert Holmén Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:54:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1644982 But then she goes for the the typical artist rhetoric, " "The images are beautiful and the story is pleasant at a first level, but it is built on the fact that nobody believes that Africa will ever reach the moon. It hides a very subtle critique to our position towards the whole continent and our prejudices.” says De Middel." It's the standard "it's this, but it's really not, it's some other deep thing."  that is routinely trotted out for new art. But then she goes for the the typical artist rhetoric, ” “The images are beautiful and the story is pleasant at a first level, but it is built on the fact that nobody believes that Africa will ever reach the moon. It hides a very subtle critique to our position towards the whole continent and our prejudices.” says De Middel.”

It’s the standard “it’s this, but it’s really not, it’s some other deep thing.”  that is routinely trotted out for new art.

]]> By: vonbobo http://boingboing.net/2013/02/03/zambias-fictional-1960s-spac.html#comment-1644966 vonbobo Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:17:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=210428#comment-1644966 love it! "As a photojournalist I have always been attracted by the eccentric lines of storytelling, avoiding the same old subjects told in the same old ways." She nailed it. With a unique and interesting idea, there is no need for the typical artist rhetoric, puked up by so many others. The work speaks for itself. love it!

“As a photojournalist I have always been attracted by the eccentric lines of storytelling, avoiding the same old subjects told in the same old ways.”

She nailed it. With a unique and interesting idea, there is no need for the typical artist rhetoric, puked up by so many others. The work speaks for itself.

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