PAUL CHAN: "The Alien in Us" in Voice of Space: UFOs and Paranormal Phenomena

The Drawing Center, 2025

Titled after René Magritte's 1931 painting on view in the exhibition, Voice of Space invites viewers to consider the ways in which these themes both live in our collective memory and influence our individual imaginations.

"Whenever broad questions arise about who gets to count as human, collective attention tends to turn toward the idea of alien life. In the modern era, World War II became a catalyst for rising public consciousness about the possibility of extraterrestrials visiting Earth. In our living memory, the age of globalization, starting in the early 1990s, was another moment when curiosity about the existence of alien life reached a new apex. I want to suggest that this was due, in part, to how questions about who benefits from this new political economy, and who should be exploited for it to function, were at the forefront of people's minds worldwide. The case is as true today as it was then."
—Paul Chan

To learn more about the catalog and the exhibition, visit The Drawing Center.