Humans need to extend their existential framework of reference from one that is purely Earth-bound to one that includes our entire solar system. In the near future we will live and work in outer space; in the coming decades we’ll be building new habitats on the moon and on Mars. Orbital stations will be a crucial factor in our exploration of the endless depths of space. At the centre of such developments is the human body itself and its capacity to cope with the hostility and emptiness of outer space as well as with its pervasive microgravity. So far no kids have travelled in space, but this will change as technologies advance, allowing children to board spaceships and journey into space. How will they experience the fascination of space travel, landing on another planet and living on board a space station? The experiences they gain are bound to colour and change the mindsets of coming generations of space travellers and explorers.

The artwork “skyspace ONE” is dedicated to the future generation of space travellers, our children. A young boy seems to be floating in a microgravity environment, the view through the window indicates that he is orbiting Mars on board a space station. The ceilings lights are reminiscent of a solar system with elliptical planetary orbits, and the whole orbital habitat seems to be constructed purely of light, evoking the fundamental relationship between light and the cosmos as light travels through our universe for billions of years connecting the past with the present and illuminating the future. The window frame is a Möbius strip, an unorientable surface that, like outer space itself, has no up and down, no inside and outside. The hexagonal pattern visible on the boy’s high-tech glasses is also found on the curved wall surrounding him. Floating in another world seems to be an intense immersive experience for the boy, a perceived reality. The artwork´s composition is strongly influenced by American artist James Turell´s “Skyspaces”, chambers that open to the heavens through an aperture in the ceiling. There is also a reference to Michael Najjar´s artwork “liquid gravity” created in 2013 that shows the artist himself in a Russian space suit undergoing spacewalk training deep in a hydro tank. The artwork “skyspace ONE” features the artist´s 7 year old son, as for him and his generation the possibility of living and working in space will become an increasingly central part of their lives in the years to come.