Space is yet another example of the powerful effect of the world of the arts. Allow me to explain myself. While Space could easily represent, at least in the collective imagination, the ultimate limit of what we know and therefore understand, the arts have made this frontier accessible to everybody. Different artistic cultures, in fact, can be credited a lot with bringing a fusion of art and science to the general public [1]. Through various forms and artworks, from television and theater to drawings and paintings, we can confidently say that the Space Age was possible because for centuries the cultural imagination was fed by artists, writers and musicians who dreamed of human activities in space [2]. The interaction and final connection between Space and Art was nothing but the result of all the sciences we have met throughout this class.
Georges Méliès' Voyage Dans la Lune
Space is the ultimate frontier where all comes together and we are now able to conquer this frontier only after having used all the scientific tools we have studied so far [3]. Space perfectly embodies the last stage of our journey, a journey in which the Two Cultures have mutually influenced each other. Once again this can be proven in this week’s topic, as the race for Space changed profoundly popular culture [4]. As we want to reach new limits we seek to get acclimated even in cold and detached environments such as a Space station.
Cosmonaut Alexander Polischuk and the Cosmic Dancer
One way of achieving this objective would be, once again, through art. This is where Arthur Woods’ artwork comes into play. In 1993, his sculpture, Cosmic Dancer, was launched to the Russian Mir space station on a Progress rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Cosmic Dancer - a painted geometric form made out of welded aluminum tubing measuring approximately 35 x 35 x 40 centimeters and weighing exactly one kilogram - was the first three-dimensional artwork to be specifically conceived for and officially realized in a space habitat. The purpose of the project was to investigate the properties of sculpture in weightlessness and to evaluate the integration of art into the human space program [5]. But most importantly the sculpture gave pleasure, mitigating the coldness of Space.
In conclusion, while space might represent the end of our journey, it is truthfully only one more stage in the merging of the Two Cultures, as the role of artists and writers is again crucial in defining our future vision -- and will once again be instrumental in incorporating the facts and discoveries of the space age into the cultural imagination [2].
Cosmonaut Gennadi Manakov and the Cosmic Dancer
[1] Vesna, Victoria. “Part 6.” Space and Art. May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.
[2] Malina, Roger. “The Leonardo Space Art Project Working Group.” MIT Press, 1996.
[3] Vesna, Victoria. “Introduction.” Space and Art. May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.
[4] Vesna, Victoria. “Part 2.” Space and Art. May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.
[5] Woods, Arthur. Cosmic Dancer. Arthur Woods’ Website, 1993. https://www.cosmicdancer.com/introduction.php
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