N.O.A.H. Galactica (2019)

permanent installation in public space and participative project for art & culture

Badgasse / Perg / Austria

aluminium / wood / acrylic glass

N.O.A.H. Galactica was errected for "Festival of the regions" in 2019.

During the festival it featured a collaboration between Josseline Engeler and the students of Hubert Lobnig from the department of “Art and Practice.”

Involvement of students: Robert Angerer / Ruth Größwang / Daniela Gutmann / Anastasia Kraus / Konstantin Obereder / Alina Raming / Jasmina Soliman / Ibrahim Soliman / Nino Wallisch.

With support from Baumann/Glas/1886 GmbH, Polylux Kunststoffwerk Mauthausen GmbH and Scheuwimmer Fahrzeugbau GmbH.

all images © Ruth Grösswang & © Josseline Engeler

The “N.O.A.H. Galactica,” a permanently docked spaceship made out of wood and metal, landed on Badgasse in central Perg, in the big field next to the Leitner-Wehr. Noah’s construction of the Biblical Arc was an act of social warmth, intended to ensure the survival of entire Earthly species in the face of impending natural catastrophe.

In the age of global warming, stockpiling nuclear arsenals, natural resource limits, the extinction of animal species, and floating islands of trash, the threat of the uninhabitability of our planet approaches. Research has long dealt with the possibility of living in space. The next Mars expedition is planned for 2033 to test the conditions for potential human survival. According to Stephen Hawking, the Earth will no longer be inhabitable in approximately 100 years, resources will be exhausted, and the planet poisoned. He assumes that humanity can only persist by fleeing to space.

Does this scenario merely refer to a dystopian vision or will it actually become a reality? As an art project, N.O.A.H. Galactica literally creates a space for providing an overview of the questions, fears, hopes, and also opportunities for humanity related to this prognosis.

The N.O.A.H. Galactica landed in central Perg, next to the Leitner-Wehr, with art producers from Linz aboard. They redefined the topic of “fleeing and integration” on an intergalactic level with the local residents of Perg through interactions, performances, exhibitions and other media in and around the spaceship.

“Can the developments that force us to flee still be stopped, and if so, how?” “What happens when the entire population of planet Earth has to flee?” “Who is allowed to flee?” “Will we be welcomed with open arms in space?” “What kinds of modified living conditions do we need?”

These and other questions have been discussed through artistic methods and through free association.

The spaceship invited the festival visitors to participate, reflect, dwell on, pause, and take it all in.