US Space Artists to Learn How to Utilize International Space Station for Cultural Activities

May 4, 2005

San Francisco, Calif. — With the excitement of the International Space Station (ISS) nearing completion, ISS partners are investigating new dimensions in how the facility can be used beyond its established role as a center of scientific experimentation. ISS partners are motivated by the Space Station's exciting potential as a global platform for cultural exploration and artistic expression.

Frank Pietronigro, a San Francisco interdisciplinary artist who wants to create art projects in space, will participate in the “9th Workshop and Symposium of Space and the Arts – Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts,” May 19–21, 2005, at the Chateau d’Yverdon in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. Co-founder of the US-based Zero Gravity Arts Consortium (ZGAC) and Associate Fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, Pietronigro sees an amazing future for artists in space when he states, “Imagine the excitement created in a new generation of young people who will see images of artists working in space and then become inspired to learn about math, science, engineering, the arts and technology because of the imagination sparked by these new possibilities.”

Pietronigro and the other workshop participants will be the first to find out how US artists will be able to access the International Space Station to create new art projects in space. Pietronigro will learn exactly how American artists can contribute to a study on the Cultural Utilization of the International Space Station that is being conducted by Arts Catalyst, a London-based Arts and Technology organization that was commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) to conduct the study.

Space and the Arts Workshops are important seminal events. They provide the occasion for professionals in the space and the arts communities to evaluate imaginative new ideas and proposals for cultural and artistic exploration in space. The May gathering will provide an opportunity for artists and cultural professionals from countries around the globe to work closely with space scientists, engineers, technologists and administrators in developing new concepts, outreach projects and strategies. The Workshop is being co-organized by the O.U.R.S. Foundation, Leonardo/Olats, Maison d’Ailleurs and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and its Commission VI.

Pietronigro, who was the first American artist to create what he calls “drift paintings” aboard NASA’s KC135 “vomit-comet,” will present a report on the Space Artists’ Residencies and Guidelines that were created during an international space arts workshop held in February 2005 at Carnegie Mellon University West at NASA Ames Research Park in California. This will be the first time that an international audience will learn about guidelines on how space agencies, universities and other organizations can support residency programs that support space artists.

ZGAC is the first international space arts organization of its kind based in the United States. Its existence gives evidence of a growing influence within the arts community for expanding the presence of artists who desire to work in space alongside scientific pursuits. Operationally, ZGAC directly supports artists in their quest to gain access to space flight technologies. ZGAC is facilitating a series of parabolic flight projects that will set the stage for “teams” of artists to have permanent access to space transportation systems such as the International Space Station. ZGAC is partnered with Zero Gravity Corporation, a private US company that will facilitate their flights. Zero Gravity Corporation was founded, and is operated by, former NASA officials and astronauts who will provide training and technical support for artists participating in ZGAC flight projects.

Laura Knott, Co-founder and Co-Assistant Project Director and past Research Fellow, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT supports ZGAC’s “Building A Global Space Arts Community,” a new program that builds on her experience in organizing international artistic collaborations (Worldwide Simultaneous Dance, 1998) and on the parabolic flight experience of ZGAC collaborators Lorelei Lisowsky and Frank Pietronigro. Laura will focus on devising programs that include artists from countries with limited access to the equipment and mechanisms used in space development. Lorelei Lisowsky, a performance artist, and Co-founder and Co-Assistant Project Director ZGAC states, “Because of its transformative abilities, floating in weightlessness can offer the New Media Artist an opportunity to transcend the limitations of their bodies. Upcoming ZGAC flights will precipitate new thinking and serve as the staging ground for new navigational practices in cyber-spatial environments. The technological artist has the desire to escape gravity because weightlessness can provide similar conditions to their own digital environment.”

CONTACT:
Eric Sloss, Public Relations, The STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University, 412-268-5765
Frank Pietronigro, 415-695-0933
www.zgac.org

> more about the “Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts ” symposium
> more about ZGAC