It was sent into space as a snapshot of humanity—a message to aliens from Planet Earth. The Golden Record, a 12-inch disk launched aboard Voyager 1 & 2 in 1977, was a clever way of connecting with extraterrestrials, highlighting our crazy, eclectic tastes and mother tongues. The disk's contents included images, natural sounds, musical selections and spoken greetings in 55 languages.
The pioneering organisation Artangel has cleverly recreated the space age record, presenting Earth Rising: Messages from the Pale Blue Dot, a concept album featuring contributions by artists, writers and musicians. Volume 1, set for release 20 June across various digital platforms, includes contributions from the UK artist Leo Robinson and Chile-based Sebastián Riffo Valdebenito. Robinson’s audio-visual artwork Monologue for the Second Land conjures up petroglyphs by ancestral stone-carvers, while Riffo Valdebenito’s track, Inner Lithophony, was recorded at the petroglyph site of Valle del Encanto in Chile.
“Our climate is undeniably changing. Populist movements are reshaping national narratives. An alternative global order is taking shape”, says Mariam Zulfiqar, the director of Artangel.
“Amid these sweeping shifts, Earth Rising offers a reflective pause. The contributions of artists, poets, writers and musicians from across the globe collectively tell a story that is nuanced and unmistakably human.”
Look out for Volume II released in 2026, and Volume III which completes the trilogy in 2027. And don’t forget that The Golden Record is still spinning in space, and by Nasa’s calculations is more than 15 billion miles from Earth.
