“Space is…a site of imagination. When we look up at the
night sky, we can’t help but project our own ideas, concepts, fantasies, and
conceits onto it.” –Trevor Paglan1
Throughout history, mankind has
always been fascinated by outer space. As we learned about in this week’s
lecture, interest in space and astronomy has dated back to even before
Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system, leading all the way to the 20th
century’s moon landing. While the space
phenomenon has been a great influence to all forms of art from, movies to songs
to paintings, I am also interested in how artists literally interact with outer
space. I found that a recent trend with artists was actually to launch their
artwork up above the atmosphere, and I wanted to know why.
For instance, Azuma Makoto, an
artist from Tokyo, creates beautiful portraits by juxtaposing vegetation such
as lilies and bonsai trees, floated into the stratosphere via balloon, against
the image of the edge of the world behind them. This “exobiotanica” is meant to
represent mankind’s “fortunate yet gravely responsible place in the history of
space and time.”2
 |
| Makoto's "exobiotanica" - Bonsai in Space |
Popular
street artist Banksy, also known as Invader, also endeavored to send one of his
mosaics depicting avatars from the game “Space Invaders” up into the atmosphere
as a part of his film project, Art4Space.3 Banksy has been spreading
his creations throughout the globe, but he finally sent his space invader into
real space. A depiction of his work can be seen in the documentary below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcGBte7HIEY
While the above art examples were
mainly looking to push the envelope, artists have also been contracted to
launch their art into space for practical reasons. The satellite company Planet
Labs has recently hired artist George Zisiadis, who was charged with creating
Tetris-like designs for more compact satellites since space travel is so
expensive.4 He was able to marry functionality and aesthetic, while
“injecting imagination and creativity into [Planet Lab’s] office.”5
 |
| Planet Labs' Artist in Residence, George Zisiadis, and his Tetris-like satellite design |
While humans have been able to
harness the land, utilize the sea and, eventually, soar across the skies, space
has always been the ‘final frontier’—a place of mystery and potential that
modern society still has yet to realize. Art will continue to pursue this
intrigue, as the above examples illustrate, and in so doing will further our
understanding of the universe.
Works Cited:
[1] Kyle, Chayka.
"Where Art And Space Travel Meet: Why Is The Art World Suddenly So
Captivated By The Cosmos?" The Creators Project. Vice Media Inc., 8 Oct.
2012. Web. 31 May 2015.
[2] Jones,
Jonathan. "There's Life out There: The Artist Shooting Bonsai Trees into
Space." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 22 July 2014. Web.
28 May 2015.
[3] Rao,
Mallika. "Street Artist Actually Tries Sending His Work Into Space."
The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 June 2015.
[4] Schwartz, Ariel. "How A Startup Is
Launching Art Into Space." Co.Exist. Fast Company & Inc., 17 Nov.
2014. Web. 30 May 2015.
[5] "Planet Labs - Artist in
Residence." George Zisiadis. Web. 31 May 2015.
Great post Victoria,
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating too that artists launch their work into space. Have you heard of the Voyager Golden Record? It's a record they launched into space full of sounds from Earth, such as sounds of nature, animals, different languages and music from all over the globe. My imagination goes to a time in the near future when some alien adventurer comes upon this record, and becomes a musical hero in his home planet...