From the Moon: Mapping & Exploration
I’ve been working on a project with the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, SC - From the Moon: Mapping & Exploration, part one of a two-part NASA-sponsored exhibition and it opens this Saturday! For more information, visit moon.cofc.edu. Also, check out this article in The Post and Courier: Lunar Exploration: Art and Science Interact in C of C Exhibits, Moonfest.
The experience has been a dream come true! For one, I’ve had the pleasure of working directly with curator Mark Sloan and meeting many wonderful people such as scientists from the College of Charleston and South Carolina Space Grant Consortium like lunar expert Dr. Cass Runyon. This week, I’ve been working with Mark to create displays of rare, antique lunar maps, books, and illustrations at the Addlestone Library in the archives department.
Fun fact: Jules Verne predicted that we would travel to the moon from Florida.
I’ve learned a LOT in the process including the history of mankind’s fascination with mapping the Moon since Galileo and the various ways that artist-scientists have studied it. Each day I’ve been blown away by the the ways that people observed and illustrated the moon. Additionally, lunar visualizations have different styles depending on the observer. Some were drawn to look like microscopic organisms and others were modeled such as James Nasmyth’s below.
I can’t wait for the opening reception! Did I mention there’s a moon rock on view from where Apollo 15 landed at Hadley Rille of the Apennine Mountains? Apollo 15’s storyline is followed throughout the exhibit. There’s also a spacesuit glove, meteorites, and more. The exhibit is both artistic and scientific. In the gallery is a small theater room with a film collaboration by artist John Reynolds and composer Lee Donaldson. If you’re in Charleston, it’s a must-see.
Dan Goods talks about working with NASA/JPL as Visual Strategist. Dan is an example of a creative person with a background in art and design working in the field of science. His goal is to make experiences for people to experience science. There’s a funny segment at the beginning of this video where he lists the normal steps for getting a job with JPL and then the ‘alternative path’, which is how he got in.
I’ve been working on my literature review for my thesis. Dan’s work relates directly to research I’ve conducted on creativity and innovation where the arts merge with science. It’s been enjoyable reading Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity, and David Edwards’ The Lab. I also feel like I could spend the entire month overloading ideas into my head with TED Talks. They’re definitely “ideas worth spreading.”
Find out more about NASA’s first TV image of Mars from Dan Goods, Visual Strategist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion lab.
Source: directedplay.com
The NASA Artists’ Cooperation Program provides valuable evidence about attitudes toward the public support of the arts and the sciences during a critical moment of the Cold War, as the United States aimed to prove its superiority to the Soviet Union by beating the communists to the moon.
