Tongue_DESMA 9 Space + Art

Artists over the years have always studied astronomy and mathematics to help with visual concepts for their arts. Artists utilize a system of concepts to make sense of visual information called the elements of art – line, shape, color, value, and texture. Scientists utilize analogous concepts, and the elements of art can be a valuable tool in planetary image analysis. Fusing art and science education prove an exciting and effective method for inspiring students to explore both disciplines. Art has influenced science just as much as science has influenced art. For example, A Universe, 1934 by Alexander Calder is a take on the cosmos. 

“Calder was a pioneer of ‘drawing’ in three dimensions, using wire as a means of rendering line as a volume in space, in addition to his famed experiments with the element of movement in his artworks.” His work with the cosmos encouraged advancements in the discovery of Pluto in 1930. Another example of art influencing space is through the artist and illustrator Chesley Bonestell. He created paintings depicting astronomical scenes and space flight explorations decades before the first manned missions. 

Dr. Carl Sagan said that he didn’t know what other worlds looked like until he saw Bonestell’s paintings of the solar system. Joseph Chamberlain, director of the Adler Planetarium, believed that “It might even be suggested that without Bonestell and his early space age artistry, the NASA era might have been delayed for many years, or it might not even have happened at all.”Another example of space and science collaborating is through the artist Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol’s work Moonwalk celebrates the historic Moon landing of July 1969.

 These artists are just examples of the many ways that space and art have blended and collaborated over the years.