Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Spritzers in Space

Went to Kosmica tonight, a small festival which started off in London, programmed by The Arts Catalyst, but has since been presented in a few international cities. I think it's their third time in Mexico City. Basically, it's about art & space. In the past they've taken artists on zero gravity flights courtesy of the Russian space agency or organised exhibitions, like Republic of the Moon earlier this year. 
This evening's event was A Brief History of Alcohol in Outer Space which was part talk, part performance as the two comperes took us through an amusing run-through the Sputnik, Apollo, MIR, Skylab etc. Did astronauts take booze on board? How do you drink sherry in zero gravity? Shots were distributed to the audience and we toasted Soyuz with vodka and NASA with bourbon. It reminded me of Oxford Playhouse's One Small Step which similarly had fun with the space race (which I saw exactly four years ago in Beijing). Funny to think that space is as much nostalgic as futuristic these days. 
My favourite space & alcohol story is Tintin's Explorers On The Moon in which Captain Haddock goes on an unscheduled, drunken space walk tethered to the best-looking rocket ever designed. It was written in the early 50s but the illustrative detail over the two books is simply stunning.

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