In 1961, the Vostok 1 spaceship circled the Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour in a flight that lasted 108 minutes. On board was Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The journey would make him the first human to enter outer space. He is reported to have said: “I see Earth. It is so beautiful.” Eight years later, Neil Armstrong made history as the first person to walk on the moon. The pioneering real-time satellite image of the planet came in 1972, a picture known as the Blue Marble, representing the first time humanity could witness the scale and spectacle of the globe. These events together go some way to explaining the fascination with the cosmos that gripped so many in the latter half of the 20th century. Yet the roots of this connection extend much further back as throughout history, humans have looked up to the stars and tried to understand what is out there. It represents how we can expand the outer limits for what is possible, our drive to discover something new and stepping into the unknown. Now, a new exhibition at Fotografiska Stockholm traces how artists have grappled with the eternal question of who we are and where in this vastness we belong.
It’s difficult to turn on the television, watch a film or pick up a book without encountering something that addresses how we feel about space. Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Star Trek – some of the most beloved films are set outside of our world. Classic authors like Frank Herbert, Douglas Adams, Ursula K. Le Guinn and Arthur C. Clarke, have long considered a life on other planets. If we look further than simply popular culture, astronomy dates back as far as 1000 BCE and there is evidence of interest in the stars in early Chinese, Central American and North European records. It’s clear that space is central to cultures the world over. Mikael Owunna (b. 1990) explores just this phenomenon in his work that delves into the intersection of science, art and traditional African cosmologies. His series Infinite Essence draws on indigenous knowledge systems, capturing their “cosmic grandeur, symbolism and presentations of Blackness as the divine source from which everything emerges.” In it, the figures of people glow like constellations, lit up in patterns and shapes.
The intersection of art and science is never felt more keenly than in works that consider outer space. Creatives use cutting edge technology and collaborate with researchers to imagine a world in which people exist beyond the surface of the Earth. Michael Najjar (b. 1966) has spent his entire career dealing with the complex and critical ways in which technological developments are defining and drastically changing the early 21st century. He visualises the influence of this progress on our future in space, pushing humanity further than it has ever gone before, using a combination of photography and digital simulation. At the same time, he grapples with our planetary future in an era of climate crisis and geoengineering. He said: “I grew up particularly fascinated by space exploration, inspired by the moon landing, Star Trek, and the Shuttle missions. Today, I work closely with space engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs to translate their visions of space exploration into artistic expression. As one of Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronauts, I will soon venture into space myself. The physical involvement and hands-on experience are fundamental elements of my artistic process.” His work is a catalogue of our times, one of immense excitement and possibility as well as uncertainty and existential risk.
Perhaps the most significant development in 21st century relationships with the universe is the introduction of “space tourism.” It seems that the latest fixation of the wealthiest on Earth is to reach new heights and enter orbit in the “billionaire space race”. In 2021, Virgin Galactic took company founder Richard Branson roughly 86km up, whilst Elon Musk created SpaceX, a company that is now considered the leading manufacturer of rocket launching systems. It’s a craze that not only encompasses humanity’s fixation with the cosmic, but also addresses eternal questions of wealth distribution and how we view the elite. The topic is one of the considerations of this exhibition. Photographer Rhiannon Adam (b. 1985) shares how she was chosen among millions of applications and as the only woman to take part in billionaire Yusaku Maezawa’s trip to the moon. She describes how space has long been accessible to the rich and superhuman, while here a group of civilians were for the first time going to travel to the moon and back to observe, create and gain new perspectives. This not only represented a next step in space travel in terms of who could fund and drive these trips, but also for their intentions. It was not a trip designed for scientific research, but for artistic documentation and expression. Yet, the project was unexpectedly cancelled in June 2024, and the participants who had invested several years in preparing themselves were forced to pick up the pieces of their lives that had been on hold.
Together, these artists help us travel to new frontiers and expand the possibilities of creation. They not only serve as an expression of the wonder and awe that is so often felt when we look up at the starry sky, but also grapple with the ethical questions of expanding into space, asking how environmentally and socially conscious the concept of space travel is. The work included in the exhibition walks the line between the possibility of technology, and the realities of life for those of us left behind on Planet Earth. We are left with a profound admiration for those who traverse the stars, and a profound sense that our own universes have been expanded to include new ideas and places.
SPACE is at Fotografiska Stockholm until 2 March: stockholm.fotografiska.com
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
The Gay Space Agency, 2024. © Mackenzie Calle.
The Fall of Ogo. © Mikael Owunna.
Mars on Earth. © Matjaž Tančič.
Mars on Earth. © Matjaž Tančič.
CAS A, Cecilia Ömalm & Göran Östlin.
