Non-Human Perception 
of Aesthetics and the Phenomenon of Overview Effect in Samantha Harvey’s Orbital
Non-Human Perception 
of Aesthetics and the Phenomenon of Overview Effect in Samantha Harvey’s Orbital

Summary/Abstract: Samantha Harvey’s Orbital stages a representation of aesthetic perception under posthuman, post-terrestrial, and post-anthropocentric conditions of outer space. The experiences represented in Orbital are read alongside the cognitive and non-human sensorial phenomenon known as the overview effect. By placing these experiential shifts alongside their literary representation, this paper examines how spaceflight affects and dismantles the anthropocentric perception of aesthetics. Arguing that the overview effect, as represented in Orbital represents a posthuman perception of aesthetics and that the suggested concept of the postbody conceptualises these shifting forms of subjective aesthetic experience, emerging from the convergence of shifting perception in non-human spaces.

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