Week 9: Space + Art

When I was little, along with thousands of other young, curious kids, I put glow in the dark stars on my ceiling.  Even from a young age, most people are interested in space, and what else is “out there”.  Space, to me, has always been symbol of possibilities.  Art and space are closely intertwined because, most of the time, artists’ projects inspired possibilities for space that were yet to be explored.

The Space Age is considered to have started in 1956, with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union.  However, media like Planet Stories, Lost in Space, the Jetsons, and Star Trek were produced just before and shortly after Sputnik’s success. These popular television shows and comics influenced popular culture and thought about space exploration. Scientists, NASA, and space explorers, then sought to make these science fiction mediums a reality. Roger Malina at the Leonardo Space Art Project stated 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.” kThe recent movie, Interstellar features 4 astronauts as they travel through a wormhole looking for new habitable planets for humanity. Although wormhole travel isn’t currently possible, my educated guess, based off of past trends, says that it will be eventually.

Glow in the Dark Stars. Digital Image. Sensory Lighting. Sensory Education, n.d. Web. 28 May 2015. <http://cheapdisabilityaids.co.uk/glow-in-the-dark-stars-663-p.asp>.

Grush, Loren. “Will Wormhole Travel Ever Be Possible?” Entertainment. Popular Science, 26 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 May 2015.

Hampton, DeAnn. Wormhole. Digital Image. The Wormhole. DeAnn Live, 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 May 2015.

Interstellar. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Paramount Pictures, 2014. Film.

Interstellar Movie Poster. Digital Image. Interstellar. IMDb, n.d. Web. 28 May 2015. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/>.

Launius, Roger D. “Sputnik and the Origins of the space Age.” History of NASA. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html>.

"Leonardo Space Art Project Visioneers." Leonardo Space Art Project Visioneers. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://spaceart.org/leonardo/vision.html>.

Vensa, Victoria. Space Exploration + Art Lectures I-VI. UCOnline. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2015.