Artist Statement
June 13, MACBA – Convent dels Àngels. Session: Time and Space: Zooming in/out
Keywords: Space Pollution, Data Visualization, Science, Technology Artistic Installation
Space Debris analyzes and shows the huge swarm of debris that surrounds the Earth in its four main orbits. Relying on data extracted from scientific sources, it identifies the eleven countries responsible for the exponential accumulation of debris, classifies the data, and shows how this constellation is distributed in the Cosmos.
The launch of Sputnik in 1957, humanity’s first satellite, ushered in a new era in the conquest of outer space; but it also marked the beginning of a new type of pollution invisible to our eyes, space pollution. Since then, our planet has surrounded itself with numerous satellites tasked with studying our climate, predicting disasters, helping us answer scientific questions important to human evolution, and keeping us continuously connected and monitored. The useful life of these satellites is threatened by the saturation of objects orbiting the Earth. Accidental collisions between objects orbiting outer space can produce debris clouds that move at high speeds; the greater the planetary connectivity, the more increase in space pollution.
Space Debris :: Waste Constellations, is part of an artistic investigation that combines art, science and technology. The project analyzes and evidences the huge swarm of space debris that revolves around the Earth in its four main orbits. Relying on data extracted from scientific sources, it identifies the eleven powers responsible for the exponential accumulation of space debris, classifies and categorizes the data, and shows how this entire constellation of space debris is distributed in the Cosmos. The artistic project is structured around two axes. The first, the conceptual one, reveals the data collected from scientific sources and produces graphs that try to clarify the analyzed information. The second axis, and the main one, is made up of a large interactive three-dimensional installation that interprets outer space and its four main orbits. A projection of the Earth acts as a center. Around it, 44 circular devices woven with fiber optic and activated by light sensors are distributed.
The space conquest has generated great advances on our planet, now is time to act, to assume responsibilities, and to avoid this exponential growth of space pollution.
- Esther Pizarro (ES) is a visual artist, researcher and Professor at the European University of Madrid. She has been recognized four six-year research periods. Her installations have been exhibited at Las Cigarreras, Alicante; Tabacalera, Madrid; LABoral Center for Art and Industrial Creation, Gijón; Matadero Madrid; Metrópoli Foundation, Madrid; Casa Asia, Barcelona; Hospital Real, Granada; San Telmo Museum, San Sebastián; Tomás y Valiente Art Center, Madrid. Among the scholarships received are the Pollock-Krasner, the Academy of Spain in Rome, the College of Spain in Paris, and the Fulbright Scholarship. She has received numerous awards: Ramón Acín, Antón Scholarship, VEGAP Proposals, Ojo Crítico RNE, and Pámpana de Oro Valdepeñas. She has participated with large-scale installations at the Shanghai World Expo, China 2010; and Expo Zaragoza 2008. Her work has been represented in collections such as the Academy of Spain, Rome; Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, IVAM, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. http://www.estherpizarro.es