Welcome to the Frontier: From Science Fiction to Hyperstition

Science fiction has long imagined the chaos of a "Wild West" in the cosmos. It explores humanity's anxieties and aspirations through speculative narratives set on planets and galaxies far beyond Earth. However, the terms "frontier" and "Wild West" are not neutral; they carry histories of colonisation and displacement that frequently erased existing cultures and rights. As we gaze toward the stars, we confront the critical challenge of ensuring our expansion into space does not replicate colonial patterns and power inequities.

The concept of hyperstition, the idea that narratives can function as "ideas that make themselves real", suggests that our arrival in space was scripted long before the first rocket. Welcome to the Frontier considers the friction between human ambition and cosmic ethics as it shifts from philosophical inquiries of early authors to tangible research at UNSW. It demonstrates how academics are navigating the intersection of ethics and law, highlighting the interdisciplinary efforts required to manage our off-world future. 

Welcome to the Frontier invites audiences to look at the stars not just as points of light, but as territories of responsibility—realities that began as fiction and are now manifesting as hyperstition.

Welcome to the Frontier is part of a broader program expanding on the themes in The Infinite Look: A History of Gazing Skyward (Main Library, level 5) through a series of satellite displays across our library spaces. This program also includes Collection Encounters (Main Library, level 3), and The Lunar Gaze (Art & Design Paddington Library).

Top image: First Humans on Mars (Artist's Concept). Credit: JPL, NASA.

Accessibility: UNSW Law Library is wheelchair accessible and there is step-free access to the exhibition space. Displays and explanatory texts can be seen and read from a seated position and the exhibition includes large-text artwork labels.