The final part of the exhibition presents artworks designed specifically for the environment of space. As the first space programmes were established in the 1950s and 1960s, a new age of exploring the universe began. Since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, 536 astronauts have explored the universe in person. Artists have been active within space programmes since the very beginning, with well-known artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, contributing miniature drawings for the Apollo astronauts to take with them to the Moon. Sculptures have been designed by artists, such as Arthur Woods and Takuro Osaka, for the micro-gravity environments of space stations. Artists, such as Kitsou Dubois and Dragan Živadinov have devised choreography and theatre for space, and Hitoshi Nomura has composed a musical score based on the Moon. Working hand-in-hand with scientists, artists are helping to shape the way we perceive the universe now, and in the future.
This section includes artworks and concept drawings by:
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Moon Museum
Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, David Novros, Forrest Myers, Robert Rauschenberg, John Chamberlain | 1969
Print of the Wafer
DIGITAL IMAGE © 2017
The Museum of Modern Art/Scala, Florence
Moon Museum is considered one of the first Space Art objects, and is the first artwork to have travelled to the Moon. It is a small ceramic wafer that contains artworks by six prominent artists from the late 1960s, Robert Rauschenberg, David Novros, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, Forrest Myers and Andy Warhol. It was taken to space on board Apollo 12 in November 1969. It was covertly attached to Apollo 12’s lunar landing module, and transported to the Moon’s surface, where it remains to this day.
Cosmonaut Alexander Polischuk with the Cosmic Dancer on the Mir Space Station
Arthur Woods
1993
Video
Duration: 6 min 33 sec (loop)
Collection of the artist
Photo: Gennadi Manakov
Photo courtesy: Arthur Woods
Cosmic Dancer is the first sculpture designed for a space habitat. It is by Arthur Woods, one of pioneers of Space Art. He has worked extensively with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Program. Cosmic Dancer was sent to the Mir space station in 1993. Freed from the force of gravity which causes any sculpture on Earth be positioned in a certain way, the sculpture could be viewed from any perspective and angle.
A World Without Gravity
Kitsou Dubois
2012
Screen Projection
Duration: 17 min 42 sec (loop)
Production: Ki productions
Administration: La Magnagnerie, France
The company is funded by Ile-de-France Regional Council
Photo: Loic Parent
Photo courtesy: Ki productions, FranceFrench choreographer, Kitsou Dubois is the pioneer of dance in microgravity. Over her career, she has undertaken 19 parabolic flights with the European Space Agency and the Russian space programme. A World Without Gravity documents and explores her many experiments with dancers in microgravity.
Hitoshi Nomura | 2009 (photograph), 2013 (score), 2009–2013 (CD)
Photograph, score, CD
Collection of Mori Art Museum
Courtesy: JAXA Space Environment Utilization Center
Photo: Toyonaga Seiji
Photo courtesy: ARTCOURT Gallery
The photographic installations of Japanese conceptual artist Hitoshi Nomura feature the astronomical rhythms of sun, moon, stars and comets. In this artwork, he composed a musical score using pictures of the Moon. The resulting installation comprises photographs, and a musical symphony.