As professor Vesna stated in the introduction lecture video
for Module 9, “from the beginning of time, we have been fascinated by the sky,
the stars, the planets”. This fascination with the unknown has continued to
present day, where the corners of space that no human can currently reach
influence artistic pieces from all over the world.
The mystery surrounding outer space allows artists to use
their utmost creative aspects to dream up the unthinkable in their work. One
such artist, Vincent Di Fate, “is a grand old man in the highly specialized
field of technological space art” (biography). Di Fate has produced artwork
centered around aerospace subjects for IBM, National Geographic, and even NASA.
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| Painting by Di Fate |
Furthermore, the influence of space on art can be seen in
propaganda posters during the Cold War with Soviet Russia. Both the USSR and
the United States produced art set in outer space to boost morale for their
country and to suggest that their country was in the lead for the space race. The
art encouraged citizens of each country to support the ongoing efforts to send
people to space and advance space technology.
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| Propaganda Poster |
Today, we see the influence of outer space on art in many
aspects of life outside of paintings and poster. Disneyland and Disney World
both have a roller coaster called “Space Mountain” located in the futuristic
Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom. This 2 min 35 second coaster is supposed to
simulate a journey through outer space for space cadets (passengers) complete
with darkness, twinkling stars, and of course, a spaceship. This ride brings
the mysteries of space closer to home for the time being until civilians are
free to travel to outer space, which does not seem to be so far fetched these
days.
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| Space Mountain Inside |
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| Space Mountain Outside |
Sources
"Cultural Space
Programme." KSEVT.
N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2015. <http://www.ksevt.eu/2015/?page_id=1849>.
Fenlon, Wesley. "How
Sci-Fi Propaganda Art Influenced The US and Soviet Space Race." Tested RSS.
Whalerock Industries, 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 May 2015.
<http://www.tested.com/art/43726-sci_fi-art-propaganda-across-cultures/>.
Image Di Fate Painting: https://simotron.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/03-painting-by-vincent-di-fate-from-stellar-technician-2.jpg
Image Space Mountain Inside: http://kevinwarnock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_5110-e1266561416661.jpg
Image Space Mountain Outside:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Space_Mountain_January_2012_Magic_Kingdom_Nighttime.JPG
Image Space Race Propaganda: http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/038/7/5/us_space_propaganda_by_peepook-d3903f6.jpg
"Space Mountain (Magic
Kingdom)." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 06 May 2015. Web. 23 May 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Mountain_%28Magic_Kingdom%29>.
Vesna, Victoria. "8
Space Intro 1280x720." YouTube.
YouTube, 29 July 2013. Web. 23 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPAmpBiVHY>.
"Vincentdifate.com." Vincentdifate.com.
Vincent DiFate, 2004. Web. 23 May 2015.
<http://www.vincentdifate.com/biography.html>.
hi. I agree that human has close relations with space despite space is very mysterious to us and we need more time to explore it. I think this is a great point when you said artist make use of the mysterious outer space as one of the sources to inpsire their art work. I think it become a creative sources for artist to combine it with their masterpiece. One of the concrete example that you use is space mountain in Disneyland. I very much agree with you. It totally represents the combination of art and space, and also human's intelligence. The interaction of art and space can actually be found in our daily life but we just did not notice before.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I enjoy reading your blog. There are many people who are fascinated with the space, even the companies like IBM and the nations! I am impressed how much the space has become been influential to us like the story of "Space Mountain". As you mentioned, the "mystery" in the space would stimulate the creativity or imagination of human being much. Human being cannot stop thinking and creating something, and the space can toss about the desire.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the future of the relations between the space and the art!
Thank you for a good post!