Week 9 blog post: Space and Art

 Week 9 blog post: Space and Art

Initially, the connection of space to the humanities is apparent as each of the planets is named after the Roman gods and goddesses. Today, we have seen a huge separation between the arts and science, but (as we learned in this course) in the past, back when the planets were named, the separation was not as wide and this is demonstrated by the shared names of the goddesses and the planets.

Another important connection between the arts and science is through science fiction, which began as early as the 1800s. Science fiction is important for the advancement in science much of the motivation to create and innovate, comes from the ideas of writers. We dream up these incredible ideas, such as putting a man on the moon, and we push ourselves to make these dreams a reality. Not only does science fiction allow us to imagine new frontiers, but it can also inform people of what is already a reality. For example, The Martian by Andy Weir, while it is a fictional story, has a lot of truth and science within it, which also acts as an educator for people reading his book. 

Art is also very important within the context of space because most images we see of the Earth are actually created with CGI. As you can see in the image below, there are many ridges in the earth's sea showing the depths, however, if you think about how from the earth’s surface, you can usually never see the depths because of the water’s opacity, the same goes for viewing the oceans from space. Even the world's most elite cameras can not capture the depths of the ocean. Also when seeing the earth from a wide angle, the earth is very cloudy, which would cover up what we are trying to look at. Therefore CGI images of the earth are important in showing people a complete image of the Earth. 

Image citations

Dunbar, Brian. “How on Earth Was This Image Made?” NASA, www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/Detective_Work.html. Accessed 30 May 2023.

“Earth from Space.” NASA, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/885/earth-from-space. Accessed 30 May 2023.

Earth to the Moon. Hidden Brook Press, 2009. 

“Planet Names.” KaiserScience, 15 Sept. 2022, kaiserscience.wordpress.com/astronomy/planets/planet-names/.

Weir, Andy. The Martian. DreamLitt, 2022. 

Citations

Lippard, Lucy R. Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory. New Press, 1983.

Iversen, Margaret. "Space as Medium: The Artistic Exploration of Space in Contemporary Art." Leonardo, vol. 47, no. 2, 2014, pp. 156-163.

Smithsonian American Art Museum. "The Art of the Cosmos: Artists Explore Space." Smithsonian American Art Museum, www.americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/cosmos, Accessed 30 May 2023.

The Farthest: Voyager in Space. Directed by Emer Reynolds, Crossing the Line Productions, 2017.

Cosmic Motors: The Art of Space and Motion. Curated by Jimmie Durham, University of Texas Press, 2001.