Week 9 - Space and Art

What better way to wrap up this course than by looking at the intersection of space and art? It applies all the other disciplines we studied throughout the quarter, from mathematics to nanotech, to further our knowledge of and deeply interact with space, the final frontier. The best way to look at it is in the short film Powers of Ten, showing how all things—macroscopic and microscopic—are connected in this universe (Hughes).

The Martian Chronicles Cover

Art has expressed space in more ways than one. Before we had stunning photos of galaxies far far away, science fiction novels were written portraying space or life on other planets. I was reminded of The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury in 1950, describing the brevity of life and loneliness associated with the expansionism-driven spread of human civilization in Mars (Wagner). Movies too have dramatized the life beyond Earth.

Scene from Gravity (2013)

In the movie Gravity directed by Alfonso Cuarón, two astronauts played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock had to cope with a life-threatening disaster, and—at least when I watched it—the film, while simple in presentation and plot, was “technically dazzling” and painted Earth in a surreal light (Seitz).

I’m sure that these works spawned out of a response to not just grandiose visions of intergalactic colonization but also from historical events. The space race between the USSR and the US was catalyzed by the Russian launch of Sputnik in 1957 (Kolbe). The tangible result of this are various orbital stations and satellites orbiting Earth today, providing services from GPS to weather forecasting.

Earth as ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Suspended in Sunbeam in 1990

I share the same sense of wonder as Carl Sagan when he wrote the book Pale Blue Dot. The image of inspiration, taken by Voyager 1 on February 1990 from a distance of over 6 billion miles from the Earth, shows that Earth “is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark” (“Pale Blue Dot”). It too reminds me of our collective responsibility to be kind to one another and preserve our planet with endearing love and care.

References:

“A Pale Blue Dot.” The Planetary Society Blog, www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/earth/pale-blue-dot.html.

Hughes, James. “Powers of Ten: How the Eames' Experimental Film Changed the Way We Look at Chicago-and the Universe.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 4 Dec. 2012, www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/12/powers_of_ten_how_charles_and_ray_eames_experimental_film_changed_the_way.html.

Kolbe, Kerry. “Space Race Timeline: a Battle beyond Earth.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 3 Feb. 2017, www.telegraph.co.uk/films/hidden-figures/space-race-events-timeline/.

Seitz, Matt Zoller. “Gravity Movie Review & Film Summary (2013) | Roger Ebert.” RogerEbert.com, 4 Oct. 2013, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gravity-2013.

Wagner, Thomas M. “SF REVIEWS.NET: The Martian Chronicles / Ray Bradbury ★★★★½.” SF REVIEWS.NET, 2012, www.sfreviews.net/bradbury_martian_chronicles.html.

Images:

“Scene from Gravity (2013).” The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2013, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/how-realistic-is-the-movie-em-gravity-em/280211/.

“The Martin Chronicles Cover.” Books, My Ego and Entropy, 1 Apr. 2013, entropybook.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/the-martian-chronicles-by-ray-bradbury/.

“Earth as ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Suspended in Sunbeam in 1990.” The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/new-horizons-pale-blue-dot-nasa/553160/.