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| Exploring Mars |
Humans as a species have always been curious about the world around them. With that, we have always had a natural fascination with one of the biggest physical part of our lives: the sky. Even before man had the technology to actually study the objects of space, the aspects seen by the naked eye have provided stories and culture to those who view it. In present day, we have continuously evolving technology that has brought us closer to understanding what lies above (and around) us.
With the examples provided in the lecture, it was a perfect example of how science does not just influence art, but art can provide inspiration for many scientific advances. Especially with the fascination of space, many writers and artists have fantasized about the unlimited possibilities we can accomplish. With science, these fantasies have quickly become a reality.
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| Saturn as seen from Titan, 1952 |
This week, my favorite artist was Chesley Bonestell who was one of the first artists to depict space, and helped popularize manned space travel. His images provoke excitement and wonder about space travel, and helped get such projects to the public eye. Richard Clar is an example of someone who has actively tried to combine the two cultures. He "founded Art Technologies in 1987 as a liaison between the worlds of art and technology" (Art Technologies). I also found it interesting that even scientists are interesting in introducing art into their practice, like in the instance of
Cosmic Dancer, where they wanted to document the effects of zero gravity on sculpture, and wanted to evaluate the effect of art onto the program.
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Cosmonaut Alexander Polischuk and the Cosmic Dancer
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Works Cited
“Cosmic Dancer - a Space Art Intervention by Arthur Woods.” Cosmic Dancer 2.0: Arthur Woods : Space Artist, www.cosmicdancer.com/introduction.php.
“Richard Clar.” Website of Richard Clar and Art Technologies, a Collaboration between Space Technology and the Arts, www.arttechnologies.com/site-2005/Gallery/gallerymain.html.
“Bonestell - Home.” Chesley Bonestell, www.bonestell.org/.
Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity Curated by Kathleen Forde : EMPAC Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center : Troy, NY USA, zerogravity.empac.rpi.edu/.
Vesna , Victoria, dir. Space Part 1-5. 2012. Film. 30 Nov 2012.
I really liked how you brought up the way art influenced the popularization of space travel. I have never thought art could have such a significant impact on such a powerful industry but it makes sense that in order to fund these multi million dollar research ventures, they would need a large number of donors who are interested and passionate about space and these artists really helped with that.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting that in the case of space and art, art eventually inspired advances in science, rather than the other way around. This is different than most of the other units that we have studied, and I appreciate that you have brought this contrast to light.
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