From Hunor Deak
Narrated by the music album: Space Metal of Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Star One band.
I’ve always had a deep interest in museums, astrobiology and science fiction. So, of course, I was delighted to learn about Alien Worlds, the new exhibition hosted by the University of St Andrews at the Wardlaw Museum, located on The Scores. This article is the result of a collaboration between myself, In Focus magazine, the Wardlaw Museum and Arjen Lucassen, who so kindly gave me permission to reference his work and use it in this piece. Many thanks to everyone who has assisted in putting this together!
My aim from the outset was to create an experience for you, the reader. To partake, I would first suggest you find the album Space Metal on YouTube or Spotify. This is as easy as typing “Space Metal, Star One” into your internet browser or preferred streaming service. You should listen to the track named in each chapter before reading each segment. After finishing the article, you should visit the museum and see the exhibition for yourself! The various films, books and TV shows mentioned here – and in the Albany Gallery – are worth exploring as well. Let us begin your journey into time and space!
1. Lift-Off: Introduction
The Setting: The exhibition is located at the Wardlaw Museum. I recommend taking a stroll on The Scores and visiting the Castle and Cathedral before going into Alien Worlds. The ancient history of the town provides a nice contrast against the futuristic themes of the exhibition.
The Exhibition: Alien Worlds covers about a dozen topics. It opens with the concept of exoplanets and closes by highlighting the need to preserve our own world.
The Artist: I’ve combined my coverage of this space-themed exhibition with a space rock album! The album is called Space Metal and is the work of Arjen Lucassen and his band, Star One. Arjen is a very talented singer, songwriter, guitarist and storyteller; each of these skills combine to produce excellent music.
The Album: Space Metal was published in 2002 under the band Star One. The album is part of a wider sci-fi series with two more albums: Victims of the Modern Age and Revel in Time. The album itself explores various science fiction stories, taking the listener on a cosmic journey.
2. Set Your Controls (Doctor Who, 1963, 2005)
Mysterious man in a box that can take you anywhere in space and time?! Despite it looking simple on the surface, the stories told through Doctor Who can be quite morally complex. The Daleks are a great example. They are not just aliens; they are the result of a nuclear war on their home planet. They are a warning to us. One of the dominant exhibits within Alien Worlds is the recreated Dalek prop from the early episodes of Doctor Who. It is nicely complemented by a mock spacecraft control centre. The Dalek is there to make us think about what alien life might look like, and what their moral dimensions could be.
3. High Moon (Outland, 1981)
Outland is Western film set in the 22nd century in space, more specifically within a frontier mining town on one of Jupiter’s moons, Io. The film follows the story of a new Sheriff, played by Sean Connery, as he faces off against the management of the mining colony, who are also secret drug smugglers! The mine itself, and the mining of titanium ore, are important themes within the film. Like Outland, the Alien Worlds exhibition tries to show us what alien worlds might look like and how we might think about them. One corner of the exhibition is dedicated to geology, asteroids and the similarities between our rock and space rocks. You can see five pieces of different types of meteorites – one of which broke off Mars when it was hit by an asteroid! – and different types of rocks that are similar to what you would find on Mars or other exoplanets.
4. Songs of the Ocean (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986)
Or, as it is better known: the one with the whales! The (now Enterprise free) crew takes a Klingon bird of prey back in time to 20th century San Francisco to secure some humpback whales as, by the 23rd century, humanity had made them extinct. If they fail, an alien probe in their time might destroy Earth. It is a great environmental story. The exhibition dedicates much of its focus to the “out there”, away from Earth. However, it has a corner, just before the exit, where you can find a game. In the game, the Earth is in danger, and it presents the player with a question: should we abandon Earth, or do we try to save it? The main message is that, with our current technology, there isn’t a planet B.
5. Master of Darkness (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980)
Star Wars is kind of ubiquitous. It is everywhere, and even the people who have not seen it know plot elements or themes from it. The film is a way for us to explore the universe through our own imagination. Alien Worlds has a heavy focus on these ideas. We can look through telescopes, we can study the geology of our planet, we can send robotic probes towards distant planets, but most of us travel into space through fiction. The exhibition has many props, drawings and notes from the scrapbooks of sci-fi writers. The most notable exhibit from Star Wars is an X-Wing toy from the 1970s.
6. The Eye of Ra (Stargate, 1994, 1997-2007)
Ancient aliens built a series of wormhole-controlling stargates, allowing the user to travel between planets instantaneously. Set in the 1990s, Stargate tells the story of the USA’s secret program to find these gates, sending researchers and soldiers through them to find new worlds and make contact with aliens.
Fast space travel is a key theme in Stargate. The exhibition also thinks about the length and practicality of space travel. We don’t really know how to travel fast enough to get to other planets within a human’s lifetime. This concept is demonstrated within the exhibition, showing that the fastest spacecraft made by humanity, that being Apollo 10, would take 110,000 years to get to the nearest star system. So, one would need to start travelling in the stone age! This is accompanied with a cabinet full of stone age tools.
7. Sandrider (Dune, 1965)
How does one explain Dune? It has everything from space politics to the questioning of human reliance on technology. The galaxy is imagined as a feudal society with high technology and faster-than-light travel, enabled by harvested spice from the planet Arrakis, making it a key centre of political and military struggle.
Alien Worlds touches upon similar themes from the novels. There is a display which plays segments from the early science fiction movie Aelita: Queen of Mars. The film was made in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, fresh after the 1917 revolution. As a result, it is full of political ideas and speculative technology that become the norm in the short 20th century, such as space travel via capsule, the trope of workers being pitted against robots and revolutionaries overthrowing old regimes only to crown themselves dictator. Alongside the film, the Alien Worlds exhibition hosts a reader corner where you can sit down, pick up a book and travel through fiction. The book selection is quite diverse, with offerings that range from the work of Arthur C. Clark to a Halo video game spinoff book.
8. Perfect Survivor (Alien, 1979 and Aliens, 1986)
Discovered on an ancient alien’s ship: the perfect organism… the living nightmare. Full of twists, turns, and with an excellent sequel, Alien (1979) was one of the first films to move away from the B movie feel for monsters in space. Its main star is the Xenomorph. Like the film, the Alien Worlds exhibition takes a keen interest in space. The study of life in space is called Astrobiology. Instead of the fantastic, it seeks to understand life outside of our planet in a scientific manner. Alien Worlds presents some aspects of the subject, asking questions such as: Can we find water on Mars or other planets? What minerals are associated with water? What kind of chemicals are needed for life to form? Do different kinds of life need different ‘raw’ materials?
The rest of the Wardlaw Museum is, of course, worth exploring as well. It looks at the University’s research into the subject of Astrobiology. You can find cabinets that contain rocks from the Moon, displays that explore the work of D’Arcy Thompson and even a nice animation of an ancient water scorpion that once roamed Scotland.
9. Intergalactic Space Crusaders (Blake’s 7, 1978-1981)
An old BBC production, the story of Blake’s 7 revolves around a group of freedom fighters trying to damage the Federation. They are led by Blake, who manages to seize the Liberator, an ancient alien ship with a hyper intelligent computer onboard.
While Alien Worlds doesn’t have its own Zen to guide visitors around the museum, it does have an AI artist, whose work can be seen through a ‘spaceship window’. The exhibition is very interactive – you can even think up your own planet! You write the description of your alien planet on a piece of paper and the AI takes it in, creating a first rendition of your planet. This version then goes to a designer at Lateral North (the fantastic people who helped design the exhibition with the University), who finalise the piece for you. Voilà! In a few days, the planet is ready. It is a great way to combine the science you have learned through the exhibition with your own imagination, enabling you to ‘travel’ to alien landscapes. Another way to visit distant worlds is by going to the University of St Andrews’ St Salvator’s Quad and seeing their mini exhibition of space posters. The posters were made by NASA and imagine what tourism on exoplanets might look like.
10. Starchild (2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968 and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, 1984)
A mysterious obelisk is found on the Moon. It starts to broadcast a signal into deep space. Discovery One is sent out to Jupiter to see to what (or whom) the signal is broadcasting to. The film ends with the supernatural. A stellar example of storytelling, the film shows how scientific concepts can be introduced to the public through fiction. The Alien Worlds exhibition has a companion book that does just that: Around Distant Suns, 2021. Researchers from the University of St Andrews sat down with writers and poets to discuss their research, which in turn inspired ideas within the creatives, who crafted nine unique stories as a result. There are even interviews within that further explain the collaborative process. It is certainly worth buying in the gift shop as a keepsake reminder of your visit!
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