New artwork "orbital outpost"
āorbital outpostā (2018)
Over the last century the technical futuristic vision of a manned space station became the apogee of all speculative thought on space and the privileged locus for all extra-terrestrial aspiration. The orbital station was the central element in the futuristic logic of expansion as the infrastructural prerequisite for human penetration of the endless depths of space.
The work āorbital outpostā deals with the realization of the space station utopia, and the relationship between technology, the human body and weightlessness. In space there is no oxygen, sound, nor atmospheric pressure, only darkness and an all-encompassing void. In zero gravity even the simplest repairs to the space station become complicated ventures. A highly complex technological support system enveloping the human body in multiple layers is critical for survival. "orbital outpostā fuses outside shots of a spacewalk from the International Space Station with images of earlier space stations including the American Skylab, the Russian Mir, Wernher von Braunās vision, and the iconic space station from Stanley Kubrickās famous film. The centre of the composition is the human body clad in its protective technological shell and in imminent danger of floating away, one hand just manages to grasp the handhold. Even though a permanently crewed outpost is now in orbit around the Earth, space still remains an inimical and deeply alien environment ā which makes it an ideal realm for our imagination and a green screen for our musings on utopian worlds.