In the Dark: Walking, Sensing and Navigating Planetary Imaginaries

While ‘darkness’ often connotes an impenetrable opaqueness that renders surroundings invisible to us, the darkness around us is seldom complete, whether our senses are guided by the moonlight, light from distant stars or the alertness of perceptions other than visual. Hence, the ‘darkness’ of the night sky is essential for imagining and sensing entanglements between place and planet. Since 2007 UNESCO has seen an increasing number of requests for registering ‘dark skies’ as world heritage, which reflects an increasing interest in dimming the artificial and manmade lights of planetary urbanization. This article explores the various contours and qualities of darkness as offering a wild, queer, speculative and potentially transformative space. Drawing on ongoing embodied fieldwork and the writings of Henry David Thoreau, the article explores planetary landscapes as they emerge in rural and urban environments.