We need to talk (2011)

«If we want to continue beyond the next 100 years our future is in outer space.»
Stephen Hawking, TED Talk 2008

«We need to talk» evokes a situation of crisis, an ultimatum or need to face the uncomfortable. It is nearly always accompanied by a heavy feeling in the stomach and the recognition that one has probably been avoiding the unavoidable for too long. In an era where one is bombarded with the threat of environmental catastrophes and apocalyptic prophesies, when one’s future is inhibited by the insistence on the end of time, how can one generate a shift out of the present, how can one speak differently? And if it turns out Stephen Hawking is right, exactly what kind of space are we talking about? Can’t we imagine a future that is uncontained by our experiences, our knowledge and by the models provided now? Can’t we produce other, alternative futures than the ones we already recognize through their familiarity to the present? Following on from her last group pieces «The best and the worst of us» and «To Serve» Simone Aughterlony returns to solo performance with these questions in mind.

In 1977, the same year Simone was born, NASA launched Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft to explore and gather information from our solar system and beyond. Alongside this very serious and scientifically driven goal of explaining the origins of the universe the spacecraft had another more poetic and ambitious message onboard: a phonograph record, a 12 inch gold plated copper disc containing sounds, images and music designed to encapsulate life and culture on Earth and destined for any extraterrestrial civilization that may encounter it in the distant future.

In «We need to talk» Simone endeavours to marry the last 33 years of the Voyager spacecraft's journey through space and time with her own existence and scant travels. The two journeys become embroiled in some kind of improbable dialogue whereby biographical details, anecdotes and thoughts collide with the golden record’s eclectic compilation of music and sounds. The record acts as a kind of enforced dramaturgy for the work – Simone dances her way through the cornerstones of classical and modern music it contains, looking for affinities. «We were both, the record and I, launched in 1977 and if this record is supposed to be representative of humankind then I should feel some connection with it, or at least unpack the anthropocentric significance of its contents as it travels into the future. By dissecting this awkward time capsule (or bottle in the cosmic ocean) I am interested to explore notions of time, what endures over time and our place within or outside of it.»