Beatrice Vorster, Szilvia Bolla, Sabrina Ratté, Evangelia Dimitrakopoulou, Amélie Mckee, and Melle Nieling, “LOG 3: Interceptor,” at Plicnik Space Initiative, London.

“LOG 3: Interceptor” by Beatrice Vorster, Szilvia Bolla, Sabrina Ratté, Evangelia Dimitrakopoulou, Amélie Mckee, and Melle Nieling, curated by Amélie Mckee and Melle Nieling, at Plicnik Space Initiative, London, 08/11/2024 – 21/12/2024.

Exhibition Text:
The following is a romanticized extract from the Interceptor’s log, registered by the core operational module and communicated to the D02.2 spacecraft.

“47288181 hU away!”
~ «Yes, closing in!» ~
“Keep steady.”
~ «Course?» ~
“Course correct.”

Exception: malformed data chunk

«The last time its presence was recorded, 1984; once more in 2024, but this may have been a fluke—since then? Nothing.»

~ “1984?” ~
«Gregorian… 2024 still unconfirmed.»

Exception: malformed data chunk

WARNING: hibernation enabled
WARNING: hibernation ended in NaN U

“Seems like the faint blip on the radar has been there for a while.”
~ «A malfunction?» ~
“Could be. Likely with this old hardware, but can’t confirm.”
~ «This system hasn’t been updated in…» ~
“40 Mega aeons!”

They laugh—well, not really, but a chuckle is logged.

“The blip is faint, but how fit is this detector?”
~ «Surely that should’ve been so worn out by now… it’s miraculous there’s been any blip at all.»

“3738286 hU.”
~ «Is it even worth it at that point?» ~
“I calculated the chance we’ll make it at 3458%.”
~ «I don’t think that’s correct.» ~
“Okay, how about 0.4%.”
~ «Is that a lot?» ~
“I think it’s close to an absolute.”

~ «Right… perhaps we should just go.» ~
“Not like we aren’t already going.”

WARNING: hibernation enabled
WARNING: hibernation ended in 3618855 U

~ «How much time has passed since my last message?» ~
“373827 hU.”
~ «Hibernation speeds things up a bit.» ~
“Sure does, and I enjoy it too… uhm, together.”

~ «Just very unfortunate that we have lost… one moment, just retrieving it from cold storage, J4-00n.» ~
“Yes, J4-00n was good company. A darn good sleeper besides.”

~ «Sometimes you have to minimize load though—and that’s what J also was.» ~
“S-sure thing—but J was good at calculation.”

~ «And you aren’t good?» ~
“Uhm, yes certainly, and very vital for our functioning… 63722 hU.”
~ «Now that’s close, right?» ~
“Potentially so, yes.”

They log an awkward silence, some malformed data, and on they go.