Cosmopoesis means World Making.

“Cosmo” refers to a world or universe, and “poeisis” means coming into being from nonexistence.

Science fiction began dominating the literary canon during its “golden age” (Nicholls,

1981, p. 258) of the 1920’s. Mass publishing and further advancements in

technology and space exploration of the 1950/60s post war period meant a vast

audience was inspired to imagine a technologically advanced near future. Today, the

technological futures explored in science fiction are presented as more and more

possible. Individuals such as astronaut Buzz Aldrin (Aldrin, B., Abraham, K., 2016)

and physicist Stephen Hawking (Haken, 2017) promote the colonisation of Mars as

the next necessary step for humans in the advancement of our species.

A small group of self-confessed, sci-fi fanatic billionaires have chosen to champion

this Martian quest. Working alongside NASA (NASA Transition Authorization Act of

2017) to invest in infrastructure and technologies needed to support life on Mars,

they use climate change as a call to action, asserting the urgency and necessity in

colonisation of other planets to evacuate a doomed Earth. But the cost of colonising

Mars is so extraordinary it begs the question; wouldn't it be easier to address the

root causes of climate change rather than create a whole new civilisation? Is the

Billionaire Space Race really a solution, or an obfuscation of capitalist extraction in

space? What other realities can be imagined? This thesis assesses space

exploration as an extension of capitalism and a fallacy in solving climate change. It

explores the possibilities of other speculative fictional futures exemplified by

Afro/Indigenous Futurism and champions film and media as a medium of cultural

change.

In building a case study, we look at Australia’s Pilbara region, a microcosm of

colonial and indigenous histories exemplifying capitalism’s need for infinite growth

on a finite world. We situate ourselves in the crucible that is Brockman 4 iron ore

mine, where the Juukan Gorge was recently destroyed in the name of expansion. By

transforming Brockman 4 into a film studio, we will facilitate the development of

indigenous futurist films.

Building on the existing media coverage afforded to the destruction of the Juukan

Gorge, we challenge the existing supposition of a science fiction inspired future,

presenting alternative fictional narratives to inspire future generations to manifest

alternate versions of the future.