starbase
Format 1: 132 x 102 | 132 x 202 | 132 x 102 cm / 52 x 40,1 | 52 x 79,5 | 52 x 40,1 in, edition of 6 + 2 AP
Format 2: 65 x 54 | 65 x 100 | 65 x 54 cm / 25.6 x 21.2 | 25.6 x 39.4 | 25.6 x 21.2 in, edition of 6 + 2 AP
Hybrid photography, archival pigment print, aludibond, diasec, custom-made wood/ aluminium frame
It looks like a set from a sci-fi movie. In a tiny village called Boca Chica in South Texas, on the border with Mexico, the interplanetary future of mankind is taking shape. Elon Musk´s company SpaceX is building the most futuristic and ambitious spaceport in human history here: the city of Starbase. From this place, in the near future, mankind will embark on the journey to Mars in huge spaceships, so-called Starships. 50 meters high and with a diameter of 9 meters, the spaceship can accommodate up to 100 passengers. Much of the interior serves as living space that can also be modified for cargo transport. The Starship is mounted on the 70 meters high Super Heavy Booster. Stacked one on top of the other, the Starship and Super Heavy are almost 120 meters high and completely reusable. A new type of tower catches and stabilizes the booster returning from space and the spaceship with a set of giant “arms”, shortly before they touch down softly on the pad. SpaceX started building the Starship production facilities in 2020, and a production line for series production of the spaceship was set up in several large tents and vertical hangars - it is growing every day. The Starbase is not just a spaceport, but is set to grow into a terrestrial space city in the future.
The work "starbase" visualizes the futuristic new spaceport currently under construction. The triptych opens the viewer's gaze to a vast landscape of construction sites. The eyes wander across an open grassy landscape to a scenery that at first glance is reminiscent of the skyline of an urban metropolis lit up at night. However, there are no skyscrapers, rather numerous prototypes of the shiny steel Starship, several Super Heavy Boosters, and the take-off and landing tower with its launch pad, tank storage and production hangars. The vertical rockets, spaceships and towers rising into the night sky form a strong contrast to the horizontal panoramic scenery. Construction work is going on everywhere, further extensive infrastructure will be added in the coming months and years to complete the future space city. The work depicts a historic phase in the space program of the early 21st century. In the middle of this decade, the Starship will land astronauts on the moon for NASA; in the coming decade mankind will set off on a journey to Mars from Starbase.