Blog 9: Space + Art

Space. Also referred frequently as; the great void, the cosmos, the ether, the Final Frontier. However, there is nothing “final” about our vast universe with its ever-expanding nature, and the only thing that can rival it in perpetual growth humanities fascination of it. Since the birth of both science and art, artists and scientists alike have drawn countless amounts of inspirations from space for their work. This week’s topic of space and art taught by Professor Vesna is an excellent subject that’s a great amalgamation of previous discussions made in the class.

SPACE!!!

Space has been topic of interest for a long time, but for most of humanities existence, it has been shrouded in mystery due to a limitation of technology. But when the United States and the Soviet Union were battling in their Space & Arms Race, they pushed the rest of the world into the Space Age. During this time, many novel space technology such as rockets, satellites, space crafts, and astronaut equipment came to development. From works of modern science fiction in the forms of books, movies, and video games, we can see that many visuals carry inspirations from actual current and past space technologies, but art born around the concept of space has influenced scientific developments in the field just as much, if not even more. According to an article by Tested, most of the interesting American artwork depicting futuristic, space-age technology was created before the development of the space shuttle. Although some depictions might have seemed hilarious or absurd, without a doubt many depictions of space and space technology have become reality. As Roger Malina, an astronomer who is part of the Leonardo Space Art Project, said, “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.”

Star Wars Artwork

Personally, I was pretty keen on exploring art in the form of music for the topic of space. Ironically, I’ve realized quite a lot of noise has been made about a place that not a single sound can be heard from (The two points obviously having no actual correlations). Songs such as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and Elton John’s “Rocket Man” revolve around the theme of space, capturing its mystique, wonder, sense of journey, and even an essence of solitude. These amazing masterpieces have transcended out into space, where astronauts such as Chris Hadfield has done a cover of “Space Oddity” actually in space!

Chris Hadfield singing "Space Oddity"  on the International Space Station

References

·       "Rocket Man (song)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 May 2017. Web. 31 May 2017.

·       "Space Oddity." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 May 2017. Web. 31 May 2017.

·       Kennedy, Randy. "When the Space Age Blasted Off, Pop Culture Followed." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Sept. 2007. Web. 31 May 2017.

·       Hadhazy, Adam. "Space Music for the Final Frontier: Astronaut Wakeup Tunes and Other Space-Inspired Songs." Space.com. N.p., 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 31 May 2017.

·       Levrier, Guy. "The Leonardo Space Art Project Working Group." Leonardo Space Art Project Visioneers. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.

·       Fenlon, Wesley. "How Sci-Fi Propaganda Art Influenced The US and Soviet Space Race." Tested. N.p., 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 03 June 2017.