Axel Straschnoy (born 1978) is a visual artist and filmmaker from Buenos Aires, based in Helsinki. His work deals with the social practices surrounding objects of knowledge.
The project takes as its starting point the writings of Argentine Trotskyist leader J. Posadas, who argued that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations must necessarily be communist—and that contact with them would transform life on Earth
“Their task, equal parts philosophical and political, proceeded into the esoteric terrain of the deepest scientific questions of reality. During these discussions, movement founder Dante Minazzoli argued that the UFO phenomenon was an important question for Marxists to tackle: if aliens are more advanced, they must be communists – and if they are visiting us, perhaps they could help humanity achieve communism.”
A. M. Gittlitz
“Straschnoy draws on visions, like the writings of J Posadas, to reactivate the reference points for utopian thinking. He invites the public into the gallery space to embrace the multiplicity of perspectives on what is possible on Earth and to connect to seemingly impossible claims about the cosmos. His techniques for challenging the tools by which the visible is made possible is thereby given a new kind of political urgency.”
Nikos Papastergiadis