Association of Autonomous Astronauts

The Association of Autonomous Astronauts is a world-wide network of community based groups dedicated to building their own spaceships. The AAA was founded 23 April 1995. Although many of their activities were reported as serious participation in conferences or protests against the militarization of space, some were also considered art pranks, media pranks, or just an elaborate spoof.cite web
url=http://www.fringecore.com/magazine/m4-3.html
title=Escape from Gravity - The Dreamtime Mission Revisited
author=Dee
publisher=Fringecore magazine
number=4
date=April / May 1998
accessdate=2006-01-03] The AAA had numerous local chapters which operated independently of one another, with the AAA effectively operating as a collective pseudonym along the lines of Luther Blissett (nom de plume).cite web
url=http://www.sztuka-fabryka.be/encyclopaedia/items/multiple_name.htm
title=Multiple name
publisher=Sztuka Fabryka
date=2004
accessdate=2006-01-03 Sztuka Fabryka is a worldwide non-profit artists organisation based in Belgium.]

The Association's ostensible five-year mission, a reference to "Star Trek", was to "establish a planetary network to end the monopoly of corporations, governments and the military over travel in space". Artists who became involved were often connected to the zine scene or mail art movements. The five year mission's completion was marked at the 2000 Fortean Times conference [cite journal
url=http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/159_necronauts.shtml
title=Roads Less Traveled
author=Mark Pilkington
journal=Fortean Times
number=159
date=June 2002
accessdate=2006-01-03] , although some chapters have continued activities to the present day.

Writer Tom Hodgkinson described them as "a loose bunch of Marxists, futurists, and revolutionaries on the dole", going on to explicate their mission as "reclaim [ing] the idea of space travel for the common man". To the AAA, he said, "space travel represented an ideal of freedom". [cite book
title=How To Be Idle
author=Tom Hodgkinson
publisher=HarperCollins
year=2005
id=0060779683
accessdate=2006-01-03 Hodgkinson is editor of "The Idler".] Annick Bureaud of Leonardo/OLATS viewed their work as "space art" that "combine [d] freely space, cyberspace, raves, esoteric things, techno-music, etc.", calling attention to "how they recycle ... key images (the MIR Space Station, the astronauts on the Moon, etc.) ... mixed with science-fiction (and specially Star Trek) buzz-words or images" and then subject these "sacred icons" to "iconoclastic treatments". [cite web
url=http://www.olats.org/space/texts/beyond.php
title=Space Art
author=Annick Bureaud
publisher=Leonardo/OLATS
date=1998
accessdate=2006-01-03 From the proceedings of the Rencontres du 13 avril interdisciplinary conference. Via the Internet Archive.]

The London chapter participated notably in the J18 Carnival Against Capitalism protests during that year's G8 summit, with a contingent of AAA members dressed in space suits delivering a petition against the militarisation of space to the headquarters of Lockheed. [cite news
url=http://nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/global/j18london/0620financial.htm
title=Anarchists attempt to paralyse the City 10,000 activists are due to join a protest in London against capitalism
author=Sathnam Sanghera
publisher=Financial Times
accessdate=2006-01-03] cite web
url=http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk/actions/uk.htm
title=Halt the Nuclearization and Weaponization of Space: Report from the UK
publisher=Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
accessdate=2006-01-03] The group was particularly concerned about the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft and its RTG power source performing an earth fly-by to boost its speed toward the outer Solar System.

Relevant quotes

"The days of this society are numbered. Its reasons and its merits have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; its inhabitants are divided into two parties, one of which wants to build its own spaceships and leave this world behind."

"Prisoners of the Earth: come out!"

"Space travel by any means necessary"

"Reclaim the stars!", East London AAA

"Above the paving stones, the stars"

"Space is the place", Sun Ra

"The next step to growing up is going up!"

"The Planetarium Must Be Built!" AAA Kernow

"Earth is the only spaceship we've got!" WiccAAA

"Gravity is a social law!" AAA 333 Bologna

Timeline

*23 April 1995: Launch of the Association of Autonomous Astronauts in the grounds of Windsor Castle, UK.
*23 April 1996: Publication of 1st Annual Report: "Here Comes Everybody!"
*23 April 1997: Publication of 2nd Annual Report: "Dreamtime Is Upon Us!"
*21st - 22 June 1997: 1st Intergalactic Conference – Public Netbase, Vienna, Austria
*23 April 1998: Publication of 3rd Annual Report: "Moving in Several Directions At Once!"
*18th -19 April 1998: Intergalactic Conference – Link Centre, Bologna, Italy
*23 April 1999: Publication of 4th Annual Report: "Space Travel By Any Means Necessary!"
*18th – June 27 1999: Space 1999: Ten Days Which Shook The Universe – various venues, London, UK. http://www.deepdisc.com/space1999/
*23 April 2000: Publication of 5th Annual Report: "See You In Space!"
*23 April 2007 : AAA II Wake-Up Communique: "The Dream Is Just Beginning"

AAA groups and links

*AAA mailing list: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/aaacommunityspaceprogram/
*AAA 10 Year Anniversary Video Site : http://semaphore.blogs.com/aaa/
*AAA 333 Bologna
*AAA Anzio
*AAA Vienna : http://aaa.t0.or.at
*Raido AAA : http://www.uncarved.org/aaa.html
*Nomad AAA
*AAA Glasgow Cabal
*AAA Kernow : http://www.myspace.com/bodminmoorexplorer
*Disconaut AAA http://www.uncarved.org/disconaut/
*Dionysian AAA : http://www.angelfire.com/id/ASP/DAAA.html
*Inner City AAA
*East London AAA
*Jungle AAA : http://socialfiction.org/jungleaaa
*Oceania AAA : http://www.deepdisc.com/aaa
*AAA Aotearoa
*AAA Insurgent Cosmos
*AAA Parasol
*AAA Toronto : http://mirmnp.blogspot.com
*AAA Noordung : http://www.nskstate.com/noordung/index.php
*AAA Argentina
*AAA Paris Nord
*AAA Paris Sud
*AAA Montpellier
*AAA Amsterdam/Area 23
*Forum AAA Rosko (Fr) : http://www.rezoweb.com/forum/technologie/aaaroskoforum.shtml
*"Quitter la gravité", the AAA book in French (Editions de L'Éclat, 2001) : http://www.lyber-eclat.net/lyber/aaa/quitter_la_gravite.html
*AAA Twin Cities (Minnesota, USA)

Music

"Rave In Space" CD (2000)

Influences on other subcultures

*Datacide magazine : http://datacide.c8.com
* London Psychogeographical Association : http://www.unpopular.demon.co.uk/lpa/organisations/lpa.html
*Gigabrother : http://www.gigabrother.com
*Chris.P. : http://mielle.club.fr/moi.htm
*The Situationist International : http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/12.space.htm

ee also

*El Club de los Astronautas
*Space art

References

Further reading

* "Mind Invaders: A Reader in Psychic Warfare, Cultural Sabotage and Semiotic Terrorism", Stewart Home, Serpent's Tail (London), 1997::An overview of Neoist activities in the 1990s, including highlights of the AAA's first two years.

* "Anche Tu Astronauta: guida all'esplorazione independente dello spazio", Riccardo Balli, Castelvecchi editore, Roma, 1998::An insight in Italian language into AAA's philosophy, literature, history and future.

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/redgiantsite Red Giant]
* [http://www.olats.org OLATS, Observatoire Leonardo des Arts et Techno-Sciences]
* [http://www.elclubdelosastronautas.com El Club de los Astronautas, space agency founded by artists]
* [http://makrolab.ljudmila.org Makrolab]
* [http://acoustic.space.re-lab.net Acoustic Space Lab]
* [http://e-ngo.org Ellipse]
* [http://world-information.org]