Stranger Things: Alien Encounters in the Plains of San Agustin

Keywords: alien encounters, cosmic atmospherics, exorbitant earth, posthuman ethics, New Mexico
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 12

Abstract

Alien contact with the earth is a recurring motif in sci-fi literature and film. Among the most noteworthy examples is the Hugo award-winning film, Contact, directed by filmmaker Robert Zemeckis. Much of the film is shot at the Very Large Array (VLA), National Radio Astronomy Observatory, located in the remote Plains of San Agustin in west central New Mexico. I draw on Contact in illuminating the strange atmospherics of the VLA, connecting the film with a series of alien encounters in the high desert Plains of San Agustin, jumbling the earthly and astral, the near and far, the real and imagined. The presentation is offered as an experiment in attuning with an exorbitant earth that, ultimately, eludes capture. The take-home message for earthlings is about embracing a measure of humility in the face of cosmic forces, fostering a posthuman ethics accentuating geographies of wonder and care.