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In Defense of Space Art: The Role of the Artist in Space Exploration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Roger F. Malina
Roger F. Malina*
Affiliation:
Journal LEONARDO, 2020 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704, U.S.A. and Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Abstract

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Artworks will be built in space as the frequency and range of space missions increase. Artists have proposed artworks to be installed in space and have worked with space agencies to begin planning for such projects; a few space art projects have been completed. It is argued that artworks should be reviewed with the same constraints as all other space artifacts. It is unlikely that artworks will ever pose the kind of environmental threat that already exists from scientific, commercial and military activities; the cultural value of creating some space art balances the associated costs and risks. Artworks visible to global audiences can be conceived and have been proposed; it is these proposals that have concerned astronomers. Public space art should be subject to a process of public scrutiny similar to that of earth-based public art works. Most space art will involve interdisciplinary teams of artists, scientists and engineers; these projects offer the possibility of artists providing novel ideas and approaches that will be of interest in other applications. Artists in the past have played crucial roles in promoting space exploration, in literature, film and the plastic arts. They have also explored the negative aspects and risks. In the future it is inevitable and desirable that artmaking be included in planned space activities.

Type
Space Debris
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 112: Light Pollution, Radio Interference, and Space Debris , 1991 , pp. 145 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1991

References

References and Notes

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