Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Space+Art (Week 5)

After looking at art and science from various aspects of our daily lives, we have to sum it up with looking at the holistic pictures and analyze how space beyond earth portrays art. The exploration of space, seemingly a scientific advancement, cannot be separated from art. Like what Roger Malina 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.” Without artists and writers, the thought of wanting to explore outside of Earth would not exist. When I watched the movie, E.T., I also, like the scientists of the Space Age, developed the want to go out into the space and explore what kind of beings live out there.

Writers always have the wildest ideas that might have been at once rejected by the public, but are actually keys to new innovations. Like what Profeesor Vesna explained in her lecture, because of the wild ideas of writers, new technologies, like the space elevator, are in the process of production. These technologies will allow us to explore and learn more about the space, the galaxy, and our own Earth.

Artists also bring in a lot of public interest to space. Chesley Bonetell’s space art paintings shows his interest and studies in Saturn every since he was young. I found his artwork very interesting because it offered him a space to set free his imagination and picture what Saturn is like. Maybe one day, inspired by his artworks, scientists will be able to develop technologies that allow us to travel to Saturn and actually take pictures of it from the various angles that Bonetell has painted. It is interesting how art serves as a motivation and start ground for space exploration.

I was also surprised during the lecture when Professor Vesna said that war was the main factor that exacerbated the start of the space age and space exploration race. But when I think about it carefully, this should not be surprising. Medicine, technology, and researches are all always advanced through wars so that we can provide the best for our citizens when facing against other countries. There are still much more to explore not only in the space, but also in other fields, so we will continue to develop with the help of both art and science. 


Works Cited

E.T., Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July 2014.

Malina, Roger. "The Leonardo Space Art Project Working Group." Leonardo Space Art Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July 2014.

Miller, Ron. "The Evolution of a Space Icon." Chesley Bonestell. Bonestell LLC, 30 June 2014. Web. 22 July 2014.

Saturn as seen from Titan. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July 2014.


Vesna,Victoria. “Lecutre Part 2.“ Space + Art. 22 July 2014. Lecture.

Vesna,Victoria. “Lecutre Part 3.“ Space + Art. 22 July 2014. Lecture. 

1 comment:

  1. Hey, Yang!
    It is interesting to see that you included movies and in your blog. Honestly, movies are one of the places that we can truly put our imaginations into and create a world unknown to us based on our own feelings. Space is a mysterious object, and we should also be creative in order to understand it.

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