Week 5 - Space + Art

The first thing I think of when I put outer space and art together is the television show Cosmos (Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse-Tyson, both are rad in their own right).  What I’ve always found especially beautiful about Cosmos is the way that both Sagan and deGrasse-Tyson found ways to present outer space in a way that made vast emptiness seem grand and majestic to even non-scientists. To me, that’s art in its purest form: taking something apparently simple and unassuming, and presenting in a way that reveals its glory and beauty.

After a short bit of internet browsing on the history of Cosmos, I then decided to check out the work of Don Davis. Like Sagan, who he worked with for Cosmos, he managed to give vivid color and beauty to a subject that seems to encompass a massive void.  Davis himself sees space art as a means to show mankind what they are capable of achieving, and the places that they are capable of exploring. Space art, at least in the visual sense that Davis utilizes, goes beyond language and culture and serves to be appreciated by anyone with an interest in the unknown.

Davis and a set of his colleagues offered a talk on the reasoning behind space art and what makes it culturally relevant. They contend that as technology progresses and we acquire more accurate images of the universe, that they become more inspired and are given more material to give artistic life to. After watching the talk, I see these artists as extremely versatile and adaptive people. Rather than seeing their work as outdated or obsolete as a result of imaging technology, they make new works that are supplemented by the new data and discoveries offered by modern space imaging. I think that idea is pretty fantastic, the idea of an artist whose work is never finished. It ultimately fits in just as well with the idea that space is explorable in perpetuity.

Works Cited

Achenbach, Joel. "Why Carl Sagan Is Truly Irreplaceable." Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, Mar. 2014. Web. 27 July 2014.

Dixon, Don. "Don Dixon: Artist, Animator, and Author  ." Don Dixon, Space Artist, Animator, Author. N.p., 2014. Web. 27 July 2014.

"Don Davis." Biography from Nova Space Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2014.

Mead, Rebecca. "Starman - The New Yorker." The New Yorker. Conde Nast, 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 July 2014.

Ramer, Jon. "Why Create Space Art?" Why Create Space Art? Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, CA. 4 Aug. 2012. Lecture.