Space and Art


From very early on in human civilization, the sky has been a source of curiosity for people on Earth. The video, Powers of Ten, conveys the vastness of space, zooming in as far in as a proton and far enough out to capture the galaxies in our own cluster as well as those as far away as the Virgo Cluster ("Powers of Ten"). It is no surprise then that it has found its way into artwork ranging from thousands of years ago, to present day. Stone Henge, a world heritage site in England composed of large rock slabs dated back to around 2100 BC. Though it appears artistic, researchers have determined that it is modeled after the stars and possesses astronomical qualities ("Introductory...").

Stone Henge
Throughout history, because gazing up at the sky and admiring the stars is such a timeless experience, there is a myriad of artwork centered around stars. Cultures ranging from ancient Africans to Native North Americans, to Islamic cultures on the Arabian Peninsula have artwork based on astronomy (Fraknoi).

Starry Night
Even more contemporary artists focus on the sky for inspiration. A prime example is Vincent Van Gogh. In 1889, he painted Starry Night. The piece features the moon, the morning star, Venus, and circles and circles of orbs of light meant to represent the night sky from his view in France (Kooning). The Space Race between Russia and the United States further demonstrates the human infatuation with outer space. (Vesna) The nations spent billions of dollars to explore the sky they had been looking up at just as artists all over the world had been exploring it for millennia.

 
Modern art based on space exploration
Works Cited


Fraknoi, Andrew. “Unheard Voices: Astronomy of Many Cultures.” Multiverse, University of California: Berkeley, 2016.
Vesna, Victoria. Art and Space (Part 3). Youtube, 29 July 2013.
“Introductory Astronomy: Stonehenge.” Washington State University, astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/im-lab/stonehenge/stonehenge.html.
Kooning, Willem. “The Starry Night.” Museum of Modern Art, 14 Oct. 2013, www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh-the-starry-night-1889.
“Powers of Ten.” EAMES Office, IBM, 1977.




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