El Club de los Astronautas

El Club de los Astronautas was founded 2004 as an art group based in Barcelona/Spain. The group also is known as the "“first space agency founded by artists and musicians”". Their main concern is the exploration of space in a wider sense, experience universe and be in love with it. Their work concentrates on the intersection of the three new spaces for humankind: nano space, cosmic space and virtual space.

The group has created experimental and interdisciplinary theater shows telling the story of "Apfel" a gangster who experiences a drug-induced vision of an alien called "Extra" who's home planet "Takaluna" is in danger to be gorged by an evil black hole, Sagittarius A*. Further characters of the show are "Mary Pear" and "A". There mainly neo-surrealistic artwork includes acting, music, 0-gravity-jazz-jams, dance, graffiti, video art, space art. The group owns an UFO. Recently they are more engaged with the organization of mixed-reality events between art and science and between virtual and real world.

The art group is to be conceived as well as a club open for the whole panoply of society: from artist to scientist, from activist to economist. The members of the club are sometimes disguised as alter egos (or avatars) such as reborn personalities from history like Ra the sun god, Christopher Columbus, Amelia Earhart or the Ice Princess from Ampato.

In April 2006 the group organized an “astro-artistic mini-festival” called “26,000 años-luz” and invited artists, scientists and social activists like Amnesty International. Special guest was Giulio Prisco from the World Transhumanist Association who gave a mixed-reality presentation to transhumanism from [http://www.uvvy.com Uvvy Island] in Second Life.

El Club de los Astronautas was invited recently by the museum of science of Barcelona (Cosmocaixa), the University of Barcelona and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). There is a strong collaborative link to [http://www.institutfatima.org Institut Fatima] , an experimental music group.

The Mare Nostrum Spaceship

The main goal of El Club de los Astronautas is to overcome the time-space-barrier and to realize an interstellar voyage. For its implementation the club suggests the construction of the Mare Nostrum Spaceship (MNS). [http://www.elclubdelosastronautas.com/mns] . The technology of the spaceship is build upon 3 ideas: the metaverse, neuroprosthetics and supercomputer. Thereby it is to be understand more than just an utopian idea. It serves as a futuristic analysis discussing a verity of key-technologies that might make it stand out beyond fiction. Originally the name of the spaceship was inspired by the MareNostrum Supercomputer of Barcelona, thought as a hardware device for brain-uploaded astronauts immersed with the metaverse and shot into outer space, a "panspermic metaverse". The MNS is not only a scientific and artistic project, it also includes ethical and political aspects. It advocates truthful democracy, democratic transhumanism, human rights, and the extension of democratic sanctuary to all sentient beings.The MNS is considered a project of peace.

See also

* Space art

External links

* [http://www.elclubdelosastronautas.com El Club de los Astronautas Webpage]
* [http://www.elclubdelosastronautas.com/mns The Mare Nostrum Spaceship Roadmap]
* [http://www.artedigital.bligoo.com/content/view/138512/David_Zehnter_Apfel.html 2008 at the University of Barcelona]
* [http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/more/el-club-de-los-astronautas-a-transhumanist-space-agency-founded-by-artists Article by the WTA]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bql8Go9I4gk TV-News on "La Sexta"] (Spanish)
* [http://horitzo.tv/node/430 Talk on Horizo TV] (Spanish)