Week 9: Space and Art

I was excited to see that Space and Art was the final topic to discuss in our weekly blogs, as I have always found the artistic nature of space to be fascinating. It was an interesting transition from discussing nanotechnology to discussing the magnitude of space, and the "Powers of Ten" video was particularly good at capturing the art of the infinitesimally small and the unimaginably large. 

Outer galaxies in the "Powers of Ten" video at 1,000 light years

I enjoyed seeing the artistic nature of the web of galaxies compared to the millions of cells in the hand of the man featured in the video. These examples show that art can be found on very small scales and extremely large scales, and that space is a great representation of this dichotomy. There is light and dark, great magnitudes of matter and nothingness, beautiful landscapes in inhospitable places, and more within  our understanding of space.  In the "Pale Blue Dot" as Carl Sagan refers to Earth, resides joy, pain, war, history, and of course, art. The planet in and of itself is a work of art-- a swirling of colors that is our home.

The "Pale Blue Dot" of Earth in a sunbeam

Many artists are inspired by space, and use it to fuel their creative pursuits. My favorite piece that I encountered from this week's resources was Arthur Woods' "Cosmic Dancer," a sculpture that when at zero gravity, floats and spins in the air creating different shapes as it spins depending on your point of view. It was taken to the Mir Space Station in 1993, and astronauts got to watch its bright colors shift and change as it floated in the air. 

The "Cosmic Dancer" by Arthur Woods 

This is a perfect example of how humans, seemingly very small on the scale that we are discussing this week, still find a way to connect to space, particularly in artistic ways. It will be interesting to see what kind of role art will play in the future of space exploration! 

References 

1. Arthur, Woods. “Introduction: News : Arthur Woods : Cosmic Dancer.” Www.cosmicdancer.com, www.cosmicdancer.com/introduction.php.

2. Office, Eames. “Powers of Ten^TM (1977).” YouTube, 26 Aug. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0.

3. Sagan, Carl. “Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot.” YouTube, 24 Mar. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupToqz1e2g.

4. “Space Art Healing | Space for Art Foundation.” SpaceForArt, www.spaceforartfoundation.org. Accessed 31 May 2024.

5. Vesna, Victoria. "Space Exploration and Art Part 2" Lecture, via BruinLearn. 

Images

1. Mosher, Dave. “25 Images of Earth That Put the Presidential Election into Humbling Focus.” Business Insider, www.businessinsider.com/carl-sagan-pale-blue-dot-earth-photos-2016-11. Accessed 31 May 2024.

2. Office, Eames. “Powers of Ten^TM (1977).” YouTube, 26 Aug. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?

         v=0fKBhvDjuy0. 

3. prioritynapkin58. “Cosmic Dancer, Sculpture and Weightlessness.” The History of Art and Technology, 9 Feb. 2015, ucsdvis159.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/cosmic-dancer-sculpture-and-weightlessness/. Accessed 31 May 2024.