In 1977, NASA sent a golden record into space aboard the Voyager spacecraft. It contained sounds and 116 images summarizing life on Earth, should any extraterrestrial life find it; carrying everything from whale greetings, olympic sprinters, a picture of eating and drinking, to a kiss.

Almost half a century later, what would an updated portrait of humanity look like? A New Golden Record is a collaborative archive in the form of a 64-page, risograph-printed & hand-bound book. Over the course of two months, contributors submitted personal stories, milestones & media, images of people they loved, and everything in between. The exhibition also contained an audio component, with a radio playing recordings from collaborators’ daily lives & songs they composed.

The book pages were printed with single color blue soy ink, and the cover was laser cut from 1/4th inch clear acrylic with scientific diagrams and symbols people sent in.

I am very grateful to have received the Best in Show Thesis Award for this project. A million thanks to my professors, peers, everyone who sent me their stories, and especially to Joshua Zerangue who helped me cut and bind the book. I loved making this project and I hope you all love it too.