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Report on the ESA Topical Team Arts & Science (ETTAS) meeting

On Monday 12 November I was invited to attend the opening of the Space Related Art Showcase at ESTEC in Nordwijk. This is the first public event of the ESA Topical Team Arts & Science (ETTAS), a programme just launched by international artists in collaboration with the European Space Agency. Here are some photos of the meeting (credit: Christian Lüthen):

As part of the exhibition, displayed in the Winter Garden area, a video installation featured projects by ETTAS’ artistic members: Anna Hill/Space Synapse (UK), Kirsten Johannsen (D), Ayako Ono (J), Marko Peljhan (SLO/USA), Sarah Jane Pell (AUS), Bradley Pitts (USA), Tim Otto Roth (D), Eva Schlegel (A), Angelo Vermeulen (B) and Christian Waldvogel (CH). All works presented were thought provoking, to say the least. Artist and astrophysicist, graduated from MIT, Bradley Pitts presented the video documentation of his naked flight on a Russian zero gravity plane. Artist and professional diver Sarah Jane Pell presented the documentation of one of her underwater performances. Indeed, underwater training is also part of an astronaut work routine. Sarah J. Pell is especially interested in live performances in extreme environments and this certainly links her work to that of Spacefarers. Christian Waldvogel figured out a way to escape the Earth’s rotation by collaborating with the Swiss Air Force and embarking on one of their planes. This allowed him to film the rotation of the Earth as if he was watching from a still point. A very poetic viewpoint. I would like to invite you to search for the work of all the artists mentioned above. The exhibition marked the first part of an ongoing Arts and Science programme in ESA that will develop in the near future with the addition of other collaborators.

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