Week 9: Space and Art

Since ancient times, space - the extraterrestrial - has been a source of interest and reflection for society. As Professor Vensa discussed in lecture, our initial interest in space began with Copernicus, who discovered that the Sun was the center of our solar system. Hundreds of years later, the Cold War between the United States and USSR sparked an arms race and a competitive space race to the moon. As a result, much of the propaganda or artwork in the media reflected the desire of these two countries to reach the moon first and fascination with the outer space, their fascination with the unknown. We also see in modern times, that books, television shows, and films (like Star Trek) often discuss or center around extraterrestrial topics - showing the extent to which space has intersected with art.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Exploring_Space_-_The_Science_Museum_-_geograph.org.uk_-_561168.jpg


http://www.startrek.com/uploads/assets/db_articles/71f36e388283e5967a55698ff3baa18d555a22be.jpg

An interesting artist that explores the hypothetical, imaginary world of space travel is Chelsey Bonestell. In Colony on Mars under plastic domes, Bonestell examines the idea of living on Mars by conjuring a visual depiction of a hypothetical community. These works of arts help further the belief that humans can one day live on another planet and shows space has intersected the imagination of our society and consequently, is physically manifested in our art.


Clearly, space has not only inspired pieces of art, but it has also stretched the imagination of artists. In the future, with technology only improving, we can expect space art to evolve in relation. It is interesting that when we look at past depictions of space travel and compare it to the modern spacecraft or space technology, we see a dramatic disparity in how our predictions panned out. I'm sure future comparison will only be more mind-boggling.

Works Cited

Bonestell, Chelsey. "Colony on Mars under plastic domes, 1963." Chelsey Bonestell. Bonestell LLC, n.d. Web. 4 June 2017.

Chayka, Kyle. “Where Art And Space Travel Meet: Why Is The Art World Suddenly So Captivated By The Cosmos?” Creators. Vice, 8 Oct 2012, Web. 4 June 2017.

Forde, Kathleen. "Art & Zero Gravity." Dancing on the Ceiling. Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, 2010. Web. 4 June 2017. <http://zerogravity.empac.rpi.edu/>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space Pt3." YouTube. UC Online Program, 30 May 2012. Web. 4 June 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ClKO6AJPo>. 

Vesna, Victoria. "Space Pt6." YouTube. UC Online Program, 30 May 2012. Web. 4 June 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ClKO6AJPo>.

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