Event 2: Cosmological Elements #2

 Cosmological Elements: Space Ecologies 

On Friday, April 28th, I attended the second Cosmological Elements Event curated by Claudia Schnugg and Iris Long. This event focused on the topic of "Space Ecologies", which addresses the relationship between life and resources in space.  As a student of molecular biology, I spend a lot of time studying the environment of cells and the ecology that supports living systems. Thus, it was fascinating to consider these factors on an astronomical level.

The first project that I was captivated by was Makoto Azuma's Exobiotonica. The Japanese botanist and flower artist launched plants up into the sky in, what he called, "botanical space flight(s)". Super-high resolution cameras took pictures every 1 second.

Exobiotanica Process: Makoto Azuma

The generated images were then vertically arranged during an exhibition where viewers would experience the images as if they were looking up at the bouquets rising up into outer space. 

Exobiotanica Exhibition: Makoto Azuma

Not only is this exhibit experiential and thus thrilling for audiences, but it also highlights the presence of an ecology in space. Thus, by using artistic technique and scientific technology, the artist allows people to watch plants launched into the unknown environment of space, or close to it. 

Another project that I found unique was The Tapestry of the Search for Terrestrial Intelligence by Ranjit Bhatnagar. His project is based on the findings of the NASA Voyager space craft, which was launched into space in the late 1970s to visit each of the four giant outer planets. It records data and transmits them as waves of different frequencies that are interpreted as images. It also carries the "Gold Record" to transmit information about Earth to any life in space that may receive it. 

Bhatnagar developed the distorted sounds transmitted by the Voyager in a graphics program and turned the wave pattern into a tapestry. The tapestry is 40m long and represents the deliberate communication from Earth. Further, the use of textile to display data brings a different materiality to the interpretation which was supposed to be frequencies and visuals.

The Tapestry of the Search for Terrestrial Intelligence: Ranjit Bhatnagar

The projects discussed tell stories of human attempts to interact with space. Each shows a deliberate attempt to send our life and existence into the extraterrestrial using advances in technology, which in itself, represents a metaphorical and literal coming together of the known and the unknown. This beautiful genre of art places life in the outer bounds of space. I am compelled to explore more such projects that attempt to lyrically combine the cosmological elements. 

Proof of Registration

Comment/Question I Asked

Works Cited:

Azuma, Makoto. “Exobiotanica.” EXOBIOTANICA, 15 July 2014, exobiotanica.com/.

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (an Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995).” Leonardo, vol. 28, no. 5, 1995, https://doi.org/10.2307/1576221.

Mautner, Michael Noah, and Simon Park. “Space Ecology.” SpringerLink, 1 Jan. 1970, link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-31042-8_11#:~:text=Ecology%20concerns%20the%20relationship%20between,situ%20biological%20resources%20in%20space.

Nelson, Jon. “Voyager - Galleries of Images Voyager Took.” NASA, voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/. Accessed 12 May 2023.

Tilman, David, et al. Spatial Ecology: The Role of Space in Population Dynamics and Interspecific Interactions. Princeton University Press, 1998.