TX-1

TX-1 launched to the International Space Station on 2020-03-07 at 0450UTC!

The enchanting Earth is too-often made inhospitable to those marked as transgender. To survive we xenomogrify ourselves through social and biological technologies, altering our surfaces, our viscera, our molecular balances. None of us have been to space even if we possess somatic knowledges of deep bodily transformations, necessary experiences for extraterrestrial environments.

TX-1 launches bits of my hormone replacement medications, marking the first-known time that elements of the transgender experience orbit the earth. TX-1 includes a fragment of my spironolactone pill, a slice of my estradiol patch, and a miniature handmade paper sculpture, included to gesture towards the absent-yet-present xenoentities of the cosmos. A symbolic exodus to an orbit high above, the eventual return of TX-1 to Earth is also a sign of resilience, of not being disposed, of coming back to thrive once again.

This project is selected through MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative’s first international artwork open call to the ISS and the launch opportunity is provided by the initiative. I also want to acknowledge support from faculty research funds at Northeastern University.

Please contact asknouf@tranxxenolab.net for press inquiries.