Art, Science + Technology
DMA9 Fall 2007, Section BArchive for November 18, 2007
Week 7: Space Art
What do art and space have in common?
After hearing Richard Clar’s presentation and browsing his website, I realize that art and space technologies are very interconnected. One of Clar’s links brought me to the JF&A Strategic Visualization website, where numerous space projects integrated art with technology. Many of the sleek space ship designs could only be made possible by an artistic eye. The incorporation of art into space technologies is a necessity; artists enhance the appeal of the space projects and contribute a great deal to the overall design of spacecrafts. Additionally, outer space is an entirely new canvas for artists. As Richard Clar suggests, new forms of art can emerge from our advanced space technologies. Art can now be created in both Earth and space that can be viewed from either location.
Is the search for extra-terrestrial life a worthwhile endeavor?
Even though Richard Clar’s Space Flight Dolphin is an interesting proposal, personally I feel that the search for intelligent extra-terrestrial life in this manner is hopeless. The universe is just too vast for there to be any chance of communicating with intelligent organisms (if they even exist). There are many other projects that people have taken up in order to find extra-terrestrial life, including SETI. Constantly searching the sky, the SETI team monitors for extra-terrestrial transmissions from distant space bodies. However, even in the unlikely circumstance that SETI does manage to pick up on a transmission, what then? Do we try to make contact? Finding intelligent life on another planet would be a mind-blowing discovery, but the implications of sentient organisms other than us is a frightening thought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life
http://www.arttechnologies.com/site-2005/projects/collisonII.html
Week 7 – Peter Chang
Prague:
I tried to apply our course studies of art and science to the Prague events Proffessor Vesna spoke of. Even though it may be obvious to many, I want to reiterate how art is very much important to subjects like politics. These demonstrations in Prague are a source of inspiration for artists everywhere because it directly affects the different kinds of people and ideas involved in the conflict. If this is the case then why is it that when it comes to science and art, art has much less bearing on scientific development? Science affects people and ideas just as much as political movements, why would there be such a separation between art and science then?
I’m not sure but perhaps all of us have it wrong when we think that art has not bearing on science. Maybe art really has been connected with science all along but because we perceive the two subjects on opposite spectrums, we would like to believe there is still a void between the two.
Tete – a – Tete:
Richard Clar’s “Head to head” project involving the helmet, rearview mirror, and camera reminded me about how far technology and art has gone in the realm of virtual reality. The helmet immediately reminded me of a sort of third-person perspective of the world around the viewer. In a sense, I believe this perspective has been the basis for virtual reality. Virtual reality, in the visual sense, has been just another mode of artwork. Today we can see certain training programs and even games based off virtual reality, some of which uses helmets that bear a resemblance to Richard Clar’s helmet.
Collision I/II:
A few years ago, many people didn’t realize or even care much about space debris surrounding our planet mostly because no one really knew the magnitude of the problem. With the collision 2 project, people are now able to visualize just how much junk surrounds our planet. Artworks such as this can spark much needed scientific research of solving such problems.
Spaceflight dolphin:
Richard Clar’s spaceflight dolphin was a perfect example of the fusion of art and science. It uses artwork to convey a message from Earth to whatever extraterrestrial location. At the same time, we need science to help make the dolphin function as it is supposed to.
How would extraterrestrials respond to such an amalgamation of art and science? Would they understand the concept of art and science that created the dolphin, or better yet, would they understand what exactly this floating thing is or what it means?
One thing that caught my attention about the project was that why didn’t we just sculpt a human to send into space? If humans are the ones who the extraterrestrials should be communicating with, why send a dolphin?
Space Art
Where do we find the connection between space and art?
Richard Clar’s lecture presented a very unique dimension of art one that pertains very much to the concept of the DesMa 9 course, the third culture. With Richard Clar’s art, specifically the Space flight dolphin, he introduced an epitome for the fusion or art and science. Clar was able to apply his artistry into the concepts of celestial science. With his knowledge and skill in sculpture he was able to create a figure of a dolphin that would allow earth to discover any other life form in space.
What really captivates me about Clar’s work is how he attempts to rise awareness on the importance of communication through his work. The Space Flight Dolphin is created to start some sort of communication between earth and space, without disrupting the living standards of either earth and space. The other project he presented in which he illustrated the amount of orbital junk that resides in space is very symbolic for the current communication problems we now have on earth. To me the different colors that revolved around earth on Clar’s illustration were a representation for the chaos and issues that we encounter in today’s world. Problems such as prejudice, racism, tolerance, and misscomunication are all reflected by the different colors of the piece. Not only are Clar’s pieces raising awareness on the issues involving communication and establishing a wider communication branch between earth and space, but also, he is establishing a bridge between the arts and sciences; a bridge that carries both of a the worlds into one single one, called the third culture.
Is life in space possible?
From children cartoons to sci-fi movies and now reality, space exploration has been facilitated over the years and with newer advancements the possibilities become clearer. Life in space has always been thought of as a cold heartless habitat for humans but is that really the case? I see life in space as an extension of our world and our imaginations. The ability to conquer the region of space is only a human instinct in which we are governed by out or thirst for power. The explorations to space as Clar said “would be an establishment of colonies.” Living in space resembles much of how life on earth and the colonization of different countries were started. Living in space might seem different from living on earth, but its part of mankind to fear the unknown. As Clar mentioned, all of our commodities would be placed in space. Structures such as malls, hotels, amusement parks, and any other facility we find useful on earth would be placed in space. The difference would not be major the only thing would be to get accustomed to a new environment.
I see nothing wrong with starting a civilization in space. Life in space could bring about various new benefits to society. Maybe its isolation from each other that would allow us to recognize the real problems that reside on earth. It would allow us to recognize our defects if we looked at our society from the outside. The different experiences and new lifestyles would give us a glimpse of what is important in life. Advances in art, science, technology, politics, cultures, education, society, economy and various others could be discovered while living in space. Although not every aspect of life would necessarily be beneficial or optimistic, but our imagination and creativity must remain optimistic in order to strive for something better.
http://www.spaceemblemart.com/
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/index.html
Week 7- Richard Clar’s Projects
Is there extraterrestrial intelligence in the universe?
The concept of space and whether we are alone or not is one that is extremely fascinating to many people. Every day, people at NASA and other space organizations around the world continue their search to try to find any sign of life out in the universe. Ever since the nineteenth century, extensive research has been going on to find out if life exists somewhere in the universe. So far there is no scientific proof to support the existence of extraterrestrial life. Nevertheless, the search continues across the seeming endless galaxy and infinite space.
Richard Clar’s Space Flight Dolphin is a project that combines art, science, and technology together in an attempt to find signs of extraterrestrial life. The project consists of placing a dolphin satellite/sculpture into outer space. The dolphin will orbit around the Earth while transmitting signals of magneto acoustic waves that Clar hopes might be recognizable to extraterrestrial intelligence. This does not seem like a bad idea at all. I am not sure if there is a need for the satellite to be shaped like a dolphin, not at least from a scientific perspective. It does give a unique visual connection between the acoustic communication, which is how dolphins communicate, and it does look really interesting.
Even though I find myself curious to know whether or not life exists somewhere out in the universe, I cannot help but wonder whether or not us searching is a good thing. If we do find other forms of life in the universe who is to say what will happen. What if we do find extraterrestrial intelligence in the universe and they turn out to be unfriendly. If they have the capabilities to reach Earth we might put ourselves in danger of attack and maybe even extinction. Or what if we simply find basic forms of life, such as a virus, that ends up infecting the people of Earth. I understand that this all sounds very science fiction, very similar to something out of a movie like Star Wars or The Invasion, but that does not make such things impossible from happening. I just think we need to be a little cautious as to what we do with the technology we have.
What is orbital debris? Is it a problem for us?
Orbital debris, also known as space debris, are objects in Earth’s atmosphere created by humans that no longer have a function. This consists of pieces of explosions, spent rocket bodies, hardware, and even satellites that are no longer operational. The United States Space Command currently tracks over 10,000 pieces of orbital debris. Before being introduced to Richard Clar’s Collision II project I was not even aware of orbital debris. The project utilizes 192 pieces of orbital debris and associates them into an orbiting constellation sculpture.
Orbital debris is actually becoming more and more of a problem. Collisions involving orbital debris often can damage useful satellites orbiting Earth. Sometimes they can also destroy the satellites and other objects, creating even more space debris. Another concern is that the orbital debris will not completely burn up once it enters Earth’s atmosphere and will eventually hit the planet. Usually this is not too much of a problem for the debris will usually be very small and land in the ocean. However, it is a possibility, though it is rare, for pieces to hit land, causing possible damage to property and even people. If unmonitored, orbital debris could be a huge problem.
Links:
http://www.arttechnologies.com/site-2005/projects/space-dolphin2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life#Scientific_search_for_extraterrestrial_life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_Extraterrestrial_Intelligence
http://www.arttechnologies.com/site-2005/projects/collisonII.html
