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THE
FOUNDATION FOR ART IN ZERO-G
A Design For Multi-Dimensional Living (09.99)
Essay in "Space 1999 - Ten Days That
Shook The Universe", September 1999
also in "Spine - artists works and
thoughts"
A
DESIGN FOR MULTI-DIMENSIONAL LIVING
"Conscious of their earthbound slavery,
men have always looked wistfully at the
birds and clouds, and have pictured the
sky as the abode of the gods. The very expression
'heavenly being' implies a freedom from
gravity which, at present, we have only
known in our dreams."
Arthur C. Clarke
"Weightlessness has begun. It's not
at all unpleasant and I feel fine."
Yuri Gagarin
with orbital, and indeed, post-orbital existence
now taken as an inevitability, the time
for an exploration of the resultant physical
and cultural lifestyle is now upon us. until
now, most national space programmes have
focused upon the practical - conducting
experiments on effects of weightlessness
on the body, on plant growth, on the means
of industrial production and construction
and so forth.
whilst psychologists may have thrown their
analytical tuppence into the ring, the cultural
and sociological impact of life in space
remains worrying under-researched. we are
led to believe that commercial, communal
living is viable and realisable within the
next fifteen years. the first 'Hilton in
space' has recently published its own blueprint
for the floating hotel, involving dormitory
style accommodation, a bar and restaurant
and a cylindrical tower structure in which
the 'enjoyment' of zero gravity is allowed
to function. the Hilton corporation has
presumably given some thought to the form
of enjoyment that may well take place (e.g.
sport, meditative relaxation and sex for
example), but we would further presume that
the notion of any form of artistic creativity
has been overlooked.
on one's first connection with zero gravity,
as can be seen by the myriad of archive
footage available, the primal instinct is
to gracefully turn and dive and indulge
in what can be seen as a basic physical
performance. astronauts, whilst not known
for their love of contemporary dance or
its ilk, suddenly find themselves on display.
they are performing for the camera, with
its remote link to homebase, beaming their
movements - their performance - world-wide.
it therefore takes only a tiny step of the
imagination to see the potential that zero
gravity may have on creative expression.
the physical performance will become something
of a revelatory process as the Aristotelian
up-down logic ceases to apply. both the
physical and psychological constraints of
floor, ceiling and wall will disappear as
we will be afforded the possibility of moving
in several directions at once. as has been
shown by the humane social sport of synchronised
swimming, zero gravity will open up the
mind to an infinite numbers of movement
possibilities. traditional set pieces of
the performance or dance genre will find
ground for radical interpretation, however
the environment is perhaps best served by
entirely radical and original performance
events that make full use of the new spectrum
available.
similarly, our approach to expression through
music will, by necessity, be substantially
revised. the nature of zero gravity will
provide an interesting challenge for the
traditional reverbatory nature of strings,
wire and percussion. the precision applied
to such instrumentation will prove to be
impossible in zero gravity, leading to an
inevitable re-evaluation of their form and
function. existing musical templates and
scores will be shelved in favour of original
forms of experimentation and presentation.
current digital recording techniques will
naturally have an advantage in zero gravity
environments, and it is therefore safe to
speculate that contemporary electronic music
will find itself propelled to the status
of the music of choice for the majority
of zero-g revellers.
whilst in an exterior zero-gravity vacuum
environment, music will discover new forms
of broadcast as radio frequencies and public
sound systems become redundant. it is generally
accepted that most utility wear (or 'space
suits') will have inbuilt personal music
playback, however the practicalities of
communal listening will prove more cumbersome.
individuals may find themselves trussed
or tied together by audio cabling in order
to effect synchronised listening / grooving
capabilities. in a novel twist on the 'take
your partner' methodology, couples or groups
will 'connect' and freefall together, linked
by the timeless binding thrall of the shared
experience.
in more general terms, the possibilites
of understanding and illumination that art
has continually proposed have been repeatedly
stalled through its inevitable binding to
language and representation. the release
from gravity will lead to an irreversable
change in the form and function of the human
brain - a transition from linear modes of
thought to a state of being where all dimensions
are encompassed. with the arrival of new
thought-forms comes the possibility of a
new language - perhaps even a truly post-representational
model of communication that pre-empts a
unique engagement with art, taking us one
step closer to the goal of true enlightenment.
stuart b, march 1999
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