Explore the Constellation
The Mothership
Art
1996
Summoned by the band and descending from above during the climax of their stage shows, the Parliament-Funkadelic (P-Funk) Mothership is the ultimate symbol of an Afrofuturist vision. Imagined by George Clinton (b. 1941) and co-designed by Jules Fisher (b. 1937) and Peter Larkin (b. 1926), the Mothership was inspired by Clinton’s fascination with sci-fi stories, the space program, comic books, and religious narratives. Clinton envisioned the Mothership as a symbolic vessel, figuratively transporting audiences away from the “constrictions,” racist realities, and social confines of Earth to the liberated realms of the cosmos. In the tradition of Sun Ra, the Mothership represents a tangible manifestation of P-Funk’s Afrofuturist aesthetic.
