With
artists from the master class Art & Science of the University of Applied Arts Vienna, lead by Prof. Virgil Widrich, selected
through a call. „Our Place in Space” offers opportunity to contemplate how and where we experience the Universe - and how
we should continue to do so.
How far do we dare to go? We ask similar questions in the sciences,
in the arts and in politics; and yet these are also philosophical and personal questions.
The starting point of
the special exhibition Our Place in Space is aesthetic images from the Hubble Space Telescope that has recently celebrated
its 28th anniversary in space. For this occasion, Antonella Nota (ESA) and Anna Caterina Bellati (Bellati Editori) created
the traveling exhibition Our Place in Space which first showed from February to April 2017 in Venice. Using contemporary and
local artists of the hosting country, the exhibition reinvents itself at each destination.
At the Natural History
Museum in Vienna, the exhibition, curated by the astronomer and artist Ulrike Kuchner, shows the traveling exhibition in the
context of artists working in Austria. The exhibition distinguishes itself through the renowned artists Steinbrenner/Dempf/Huber,
Nives Widauer, Payer Gabriel, Markus Reisinger und Yunchul Kim that have been invited, and the young and ambitious artists
from the master class Art & Science of the University of Applied Arts Vienna, lead by Prof. Virgil Widrich, selected through
a call.
Margit Busch & Solmaz Farhang, Anna Lerchbaumer & Eleni Boutsika-Palles, Michael Bachhofer, Daniela
Brill Estrada and Monica LoCascio are inspired by scientific images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Their works tell individual
stories that allow the viewer to explore new space and connections.
What happens to our artistic creations and
our self-image when we realise that our home in the Universe, the Milky Way, is only one in a sextillion spots, copied a million
times? Each week we discover new earths. So what actually makes our world habitable? Where do we place ourselves in the solar
system, where in the Milky way, or in the Universe, and where does the desire to explore come from? And how is the experience
altered in our personal observations, creations and investigations? The exhibition explores these questions and offers answers
through artistic expression.
The exhibition provides another highlight with the Austrian premiere of the presentation
of the so-called “S.H.E.E.” habitat during the first week. The habitat is a self-deployable living space for persons on Moon,
Mars or in disaster areas on Earth and will be open for viewings from 20 – 23 June 2018.
We invite you on a journey
that will guide you away from Vienna towards space, a journey that will end at the edges of our visible Universe. Our goal
is to encourage people of all ages to engage in the interdisciplinary discussion of these two worlds, astronomy and art, where
you will also have the chance to meet and connect with both artists and scientists.
From 20 – 31 August, Vienna
also hosts the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, one of the most important international conferences
for astronomers, astrophysicists and space scientists, where 4000 people are expected to attend.
http://artscience.uni-ak.ac.at/activities?projekt_id=1523092576204