Pioneer Plaque
Visualized: Street art culture by Eva and Roman
Upon receiving this assignment, Roman and I immediately knew we wanted to do something related to arts and culture, since Ted Chiang’s short story primarily focuses on science, mathematics, and linguistics. We landed on street art, specifically tagging culture, as our topic, since we feel it most encapsulates what it is to be human. Street art is one of the most accessible art sectors, and has a robust history. At the root of that history lies the human desire to feel as though one’s existence matters, hence our choice of the phrase “I was here.” We felt that phrase beautifully captures the heart of the street art movement.
Although we know this is an intrinsically human desire, we wondered if it was something experienced by the aliens in “Story of Your Life” as well. By the end of the story, Qiang establishes that the heptapods’ “motives coincide with history’s purposes. They act to create the future, to enact chronology” (33). If the life of a heptapod is to merely act out a predetermined script, then can they, too feel the desire to prove their existence? Or is that desire isolated to those who can experience free will?