Week 9: Space and Art

Space and Art

According to professor Vesna, this week’s topic on space and art perfectly summarized all the topics covered in this class. Professor Vesna perspective on the origin of space and the history and the development of the hydrogen bomb, the atomic bomb and the space and arms races was quite inspiring and interesting. Observing the skies and what lies beyond it has inspired many poets, composers and artists such as William Herschel who was one of the most important astronomers of the 18th century.  Others such as Cark Sagan describe the earth as a lonely speck in the lonely great enveloping cosmic. This is quite true since much of the information about space remains a mystery to be solved.

The Earth from the Space

stuffpoint.com

The fact that a lot of things about space remain unknown has inspired artists to come up with ideas of what really exists in the outer space. Through films such as star trek and star wars, we are able to see the artistic visualization of the universe as a whole. The Leonardo space art project working group is another interesting assembly of individuals that seeks to promote the cultural dimension of space activities. One of its members, Roger Malina, points out that the space age was made possible due to the imagination of artists, writers and musicians who visualized human activities in space.

 The Galaxy

www.artinaid.com

The earth and the entire universe has been a subject of curiosity for man over many centuries. The curiosity and interest to know what lies beyond the earth in outer space has prompted works in popular culture that covers topics of outer space. People have intensified their interest in the universe and the cosmos since the beginning of the space race that pitted Russia against the US. Art and science are both being used to better understand the outer space. The UCLA Basic Plasma Science Facility, research and studies based on art, space and technology is ongoing. The main aim of the facility is to understand the basic properties of plasma for use in broader applications in fusion energy and space science. The facility uses tools such as Laser Induced Fluorescence and Three dimensional field lines taken from a volumetric data to visualize the plasma. The concept of space and existence of other life forms is very interesting. Am sure this topic will continue to raise more curiosity and that the artistic imagination of what exists in the universe will spur more scientific discoveries.

The Basic Plasma Facility

http://plasma.physics.ucla.edu/index.html

Works Cited

 Sagan, Carl. A Pale Blue Dot. N.p. n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. <http://www.bigskyastroclub.org/pale_blue_dot.html>.

Vesna , Victoria, dir. Space Part 1-5. 2012. Film. 29 Nov 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2O5C0Iv6ROo>

PBS. Astronomy and the arts. N.p. 2007. 29  Nov 2013 < http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/resources-links/astronomy-and-the-arts.html>

Leonardo Space Art Project Visioneers. Leonardo Space Art Project Visioneers. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. <http://spaceart.org/leonardo/vision.html>.

UCLA. The Basic Plasma Facility at UCLA. n.p.Web. 29 Nov. 2013. <http://plasma.physics.ucla.edu/index.html>