journey to alien worlds: proxima kósmos at powerhouse arts
October 13 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Journey to Alien Worlds — a performative lecture by Dr. Claire Isabel Webb with planetary scientist Estelle Janin, designer Shane Griffin (Grif Studio), and science-fiction writer Mary Robinette Kowal— introduces audiences to Proxima Kósmos, a speculative solar system where life could thrive under radically different conditions. Drawing on astrophysics, speculative biology, worldbuilding design, and storytelling, the program explores how we might imagine worlds beyond our own. Lecture guests will also receive a complimentary copy of Proxima Kósmos Zine Vol. II.
Following the lecture, join artist Saya Woolfalk for a participatory art-making experience. Drawing inspiration from both Proxima Kósmos and the nearby Gowanus Canal, participants will ask: What kinds of beings could emerge in worlds unlike our own?
The evening will also feature culinary “alien landscapes” by chef Angel Dimayuga, roving alien creatures, newly commissioned shorts by filmmaker Wendi Yan, and a live score by composer Mark Hadley. Together with the launch of Proxima Kósmos Zine Vol. II, these activities invite the public into the speculative solar system of Proxima Kósmos, bringing its alien worlds to life through art, performance, food, and film.
This free program is presented by Future Humans at the Berggruen Institute in collaboration with Powerhouse Arts.
Seating for the 5:00pm lecture in the Small Hall is limited; reserved RSVPs will be checked in at the door.
The 6:00–8:00pm reception and activations in The Loft are also free with RSVP; walk-ins may be admitted as space allows.
Bios:
Dr. Claire Isabel Webb directs the Future Humans program at the Berggruen Institute, where she explores the radical scientific transformations shaping life, mind, and outer space. Her work bridges speculative science, the history of technology, and experimental storytelling. Webb earned her PhD from MIT in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS). Her forthcoming book, Reflexive Alienation, traces how scientists have developed experimental practices to anticipate alien life, even in the face of its enduring unknowability.
Saya Woolfalk is a New York based artist who uses science fiction and fantasy to re-imagine the world in multiple dimensions. Works by the artist are in the collections of major institutions including, among others, the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Mead Art Museum, the Weatherspoon Art Museum; the Newark Museum; the Chrysler Museum of Art; and the Seattle Art Museum where her major multi-media installation, commissioned and acquired by the Museum, is on extended view.
Estelle Janin is a PhD Candidate at Arizona State University. Estelle is interested in alien life detection and how to develop more agnostic tools to recognize life’s diversity and complexity on other worlds. She studied astrophysics and molecular biology at University College London, and integrates complex systems science into her research.
Shane Griffin is an artist, designer, and founder of Grif Studio —an independent creative studio and art practice that specializes in bespoke artwork, live-action film direction, and animated content.
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of The Spare Man, Ghost Talkers, The Glamourist Histories series, the Lady Astronaut Universe, and Molly on the Moon. She is part of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and a four-time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary Robinette, a professional puppeteer, lives in Denver.
Angel Dimayuga is chef, cultural producer and transdisciplinary artist. They are the co-author of Filipinx: Heritage Recipes from the Diaspora, an anthropologic, memoire-manifesto and design driven cookbook. As a James Beard finalist, they were formerly the Creative Director of Food and Culture of The Standard Hotels international and executive chef of Mission Chinese New York.
Mark Hadley is a composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist whose work lives at the intersection of the synthetic and the organic, evoking mystery, wonder, and awe through a mesmerizing mix of electronic and analog elements.
Wendi Yan is an artist and writer. She uses CGI software to simulate alternative scientific progress through videos and games, and writes about the history and future of scientific discovery.
Future Humans is an interdisciplinary initiative at the Berggruen Institute that investigates how scientific discoveries, emerging technologies, ecological transformations, and speculative thought are radically reshaping foundational concepts of biology, intelligence, and consciousness. Through collaborations across science, art, and philosophy, Future Humans examines how AI, synthetic biologies, and cosmic exploration challenge and redefine our categories of the human, the more-than-human, the living, and the artificial. At the center of these projects is a crucial question: What will life become?
Proxima Kósmos is an interdisciplinary research initiative from the Berggruen Institute’s Future Humans program led by Dr. Claire Isabel Webb. The project brings together planetary scientists, astrobiologists, speculative designers, and science fiction writers to model a coherent solar system of nine imagined exoplanets. Each world is grounded in scientific plausibility and developed collaboratively to explore novel forms of life, intelligence, and planetary evolution. Proxima Kósmos merges real exoplanetary science with speculative fiction and design to probe the strange, the possible, and the not-yet-alive.