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A LEAP INTO SPACE
Since the beginning of mankind and the history of civilization, human beings have
always dreamed of the heavens. Before the emergence of the Biblical religions, they
fantasized about gods as the guardians of the stars and now, with such great leaps
forward in technology, they imagine a better life beyond the sky.
Certain esoteric traditions, doubtlessly premonitory, have always endeavored to convince
us of the need to rediscover our original condition: that of an inhabitant of the
Universe, connected through the vibrations of the Cosmos, provided that we master
the "know how" of our brain, if it is ñ in the same manner as our carnal
envelope ñ correctly stimulated.
Since the end of the 1950s, scientists have undertaken the path leading us to the
Milky Way, by analyzing the human bodyís conditions of adaptation to space, with
all that it may entail in terms of biological and mental reeducation. Without this
research, we would have missed the launch of the cosmonauts, and the collective utopia
of travelling through space, which, over these past few years, is becoming a reality.
In light of the progress made by scientists, artists have been unable to remain inactive:
understandably, they rapidly pondered the possibility of creating ephemeral works
and new precursory plastic art or simply metaphorical expressions, in space.
Each artist participating in the 4th art-outsiders international festival of digital
creation illustrates this approach in his or her specific manner. The artists, by
stimulating their sensitivity and subconscious, have created diverse performances
and installations. Each visitorís individual imagination will undoubtedly bring a
new light to these exhibitions, which require a certain extent of interactivity.
Finally, this leap into space also takes on a vital function for each individual
ís inner being: far from an escape or a simple need to experiment, this approach
gives the artist, as well as those who observe or identify with these works, solid
wings on which to fly.
Now, it is up to you to take the leap!
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Jean-Luc Soret | Artistic
director
SPACE ART : exploring new territories!
After having created the "Bio-Art" theme for the 2002 edition, the international
@rt Outsiders festival proposes a historical event this year, based on the "Space
Art" theme, which will be held at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie.
This special venue will once again be transformed into a showcase for emerging artistic
trends, between October 1 and November 9, 2003. This is the very first time a festival,
exclusively dedicated to space art, has been organized in France.
What needs to be done is to define "Space Art" in general terms, without
going into a long drawn-out listing of all the disciplines that it covers, which
in fact encompass almost all fields of contemporary creation.
"Space Art" is all those contemporary artistic practices that are inspired
by space research or space activity. It is, therefore, not an esthetic current that
imposes shared formal rules of presentation or representation, but rather an artistic
current defined by a subject: space, drawing on a community of passionate, lively
interests by an infinite scope of investigation that is as yet little explored.
The panorama of the works and installations exhibited in the international @rt Outsiders
festival enables us to forcefully demonstrate the extraordinary vitality of contemporary
creation via the novelty and diversity of the fields of experimentation that it covers:
artistic experiments in weightlessness, collective and participatory works intended
for space voyages, sub-orbital and environmental projects, multimedia installations
based on radio-astronomy and radio-telescopy, cosmic representations, weightless
sculpture and architecture, digital creations fiction films or documentaries concerning
fantasy, esthetics or the history of the conquest of space.
These unique artists, painters, plastic artists, choreographers, dancers, architects,
sculptors, film makers, musicians and poets appropriate ñ each in their own way ñ
the collective imagination linked to the exploration of space, providing us with
fascinating works, that reveal a particular awareness of the incomparable social-cultural
changes that are associated with technological progress.
The esthetic, scientific, philosophical, social and political stakes behind these
new artistic practices will be the focus of two weekend events combining conferences,
debates, artwork presentations, performances and film projections that will bear
witness to the prodigious force of evocation that this Terra Incognita has always
held for the human community.
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