Unit 9: Space + Art

The "pale blue dot" that is Earth

Space is truly the final frontier, the epitome of limitlessness and the boundlessness of imagination and creativity. Along with this comes the realization that Earth represents only a tiny fraction of the realities and possibilities of the universe. This understanding is illustrated by the “pale blue dot” image taken from space, in which Earth appears as just a pale blue dot. As Carl Sagan describes, “Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That’s us” (Sagan 6). The size of our reality is creatively represented in Powers of Ten, which zooms in and out by magnitudes of ten, starting from the human scale (Eames). This visual representation of the relative sizes of everything that we know, and all that we do not, compels us to realize how small we really are, as well as the difference that a change in perspective can make.

As such, our curiosity and desire to understand this vast unexplored expanse is only logical. It is interesting to consider however that this exploration of space initially began, in part, as a political statement (Vesna). The idea that all our space-based knowledge and creations originated as a response to the Cold War illustrates the impact that sociocultural factors can have on the progress of science and art.

Illustration of the space elevator

Within our pursuit to understand space, the fusion of science and art, and their influence on each other, can be observed. One of the most intriguing examples is the space elevator (Vesna). Now science fiction is not just fiction – the ideas authors come up with can form the basis for real scientific applications. Scientists can draw from the creativity of artists to bring novel ideas into actual practice. This duality also goes the other way around, with artists taking inspiration from scientific concepts to create works that represent and expand the knowledge and perspectives we hold. For instance, the Dancing on the Ceiling exhibition draws from the scientific concept of gravity to explore ideas such as transcendence, going beyond the science to give us a new way to view our world (Forde). The Mars Patent project takes this to a new level, with the installation of an interplanetarian exhibition on Mars (van Oldenburg and Reiche), expanding our understanding of artistic and cultural exchange to the scale of the universe. With the vast expanse of space open for us to explore and build upon, there truly are no limits to what we can know and create. 

Art piece based on concept of zero gravity

References

Britten, Sean. “Pale Blue Dot.” 2SER, https://2ser.com/pale-blue-dot/pale-blue-dot/. Accessed 3 June 2018.

Eames, Charles and Eames, Ray. Powers of Ten. YouTube, uploaded by Eames Office, 26 Aug 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0.

Forde, Kathleen. “Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, http://zerogravity.empac.rpi.edu/. Accessed 3 June 2018.

Guo-Qiang, Cai. “Desire for Zero Gravity.” Cai Guo-Qiang, http://www.caiguoqiang.com/projects/desire-zero-gravity. Accessed 3 June 2018.

Sagan, Carl. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. New York, Random House Publishing Group, 1994.

Templeton, Graham. “60,000 miles up: Space elevator could be built by 2035, says new study.” ExtremeTech, https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/176625-60000-miles-up-geostationary-space-elevator-could-be-built-by-2035-says-new-study. Accessed 3 June 2018.

Vesna, Victoria. “Space Exploration + Art.” YouTube, uploaded by uconlineprogram, 29 July 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPAmpBiVHY.

von Oldenburg, Helene and Reiche, Claudia. “The Mars Patent.” The Mars Patent, http://www.mars-patent.org/. Accessed 3 June 2018.