Abstract

We are developing a new manifesto based on the Bogota Declaration of 1976 in which eight equatorial countries claimed sovereignty over the geostationary orbit. The declaration is a somewhat forgotten document about inequalities in technological power, the physics of orbit and its contested spaces. We will try to discover what the geostationary orbit can mean to us and define our own protests, rituals and love songs in relation to it.

We were struck by the way this United Nations document reads like a poem. It is full of fervour, challenging the great powers and at the same time describing the extraordinary architecture of this necklace-like ring of satellites encircling the Earth.

• Alejandro Duque (CO) is a Colombian video artist who is currently pursuing a PhD in philosophy of communication. His dissertation deals with the “trafficking” of ideas and concepts across marginalized communities and western philosophies. His research interest focuses on new technologies and open source software.
• Luis Bustamante (CO) lives and works in Berlin, DE. Artist and Interaction Designer with a master of science in Digital Media. He has worked at the ZKM (DE) where he focused on his main interests: Data visualization, generative graphics, interaction with data (and people) in public spaces, video compositing.

Full text (PDF) p. 276-277