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Alien Nation is the representation of a model for politics. It is the first public manifestation of an ongoing project that deals with the social and political implications of the duality of the term "alien" (its legal use to describe foreigners or immigrants and its use in science fiction to denominate extraterrestrial creatures). Alien Nation has no territory other than the one defined by the gathering of its people, raising questions related to the individual and collective sense of belonging to a place or a culture. The form of a parade is used as a way to fuel happenings that gather Alien Nation's population and provide the space to discuss who we are and how we want to be seen. As alienated humans, we have been told we do not belong. But as sci-fi characters we have been told we came from Outer Space. So, as Aliens, we politely excuse ourselves from Earth and begin our journey to return to the home science fiction gave us, by establishing the Moon as our first step to the final frontier.
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“What is it that makes us feel that we belong to a certain place?” This question introduces the analysis of the ways design can influence, create and reinforce feelings of self or collective identity. “Souvenirs of Places Never Visited: the Moon” focuses on how the commodified souvenir can condense and give shape to perceptions of identity, sometimes reduced to feelings of nationality, and analyses how visual strategies are so powerful to the point of creating collective identities to places that don’t exist or have never been visited, like the moon. In order to test out this possibility, it showcases a study around a possible souvenir from the moon that became a phenomenon in the beginning of the 20th century: the Paper Moon. To show both the research and the collection of Paper Moons gathered (more than 300), two books were designed: “Souvenirs of Places Never Visited: the Moon” and “Inventory of Paper Moons”.
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