May 4, 2021

Faith in connection

In 1974, we, the humans, sent a message into space. It had the sole purpose of attempting to make contact with alien life. At that time, and still to this day in 2021, we have no evidence for the existence of alien life. For years, creators of fiction have painted various pictures of what the day would be like for us if we stumbled across an Other – a species capable of communicating with us in a meaningful way. Some depict the annihilation of our species, others paint a more optimistic view of intergalactic alliances.

Modern-day marketing likes to talk about being evidence-based with the work we make. The expert advice says, “Understand your target market”, “Focus on the customer”, “Uncover their problems and solve those, for them.” Which, is good advice if your goal is to run a sustainable business. But, the problem with the evidence-based approach of modern-day marketing theory is that it’s disastrous for making art.

Just like the Arecibo telescope did in 1974, there is always a case – a reason – to work with faith, not data. The process of art is to help the artist answer their own questions about the world. We squirrel away in whatever medium feels right, often in isolation, so that we can understand ourselves and our place in the beating heart of the world. And, once we’re satisfied with the output of that investigation for ourselves, we send it out into the world; just like Arecibo.

The message from Arecibo has not yet provoked a response. In fact, it’s estimated the signal is about 47 light-years away as of 2020. But, it’s out there to be discovered. And the hope that one day, in some distant future, a group of humans may benefit from it, makes it worth it. The chances are small, but some hope is better than none.

As artists, we also send messages out into the world with hope; we hope they’ll find someone else who can decipher it, understand it, or benefit from it in some way. Our work orbits humanity’s collective consciousness on social media platforms, every share or like slightly amplifying it to other people like us. We may never find out if the message lands, and it’s unlikely that taking this approach will lead to any form of meaningful income (see Vincent Van Gogh). But, in the same way, that Arecibo scientists may never know about the impact of the message they created, taking the risk of simply putting the message out there may be the biggest act of generosity a human can perform. Whilst the chances are small, some hope is better than none.

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