Space station, green cloud and Manifesta (blog)

14/07/2008

Nuage Vert by Hehe

At the symposium on the International Space Station at UNESCO in Paris, organised by the IAF, a number of astronauts, mission specialists, agency heads and assorted space types (only one artist spotted) mused on 10 years of the international space station, which is undergoing a revival of interest now it is large enough to get lost in, with the addition of the European Columbus laboratory, the Japanese Kibo, and the odd visiting ATV (a kind of space garbage truck) which people, apparently really like to sleep in when it is attached. And also big enough to hide in (and have sex, as one speaker nearly said, before being reminded that they were on record). The ISS is now nearly ready for real scientific utilisation, is already inviting proposals for education and outreach - and we hope, soon, cultural utilisation - and has had its lifespan extended to 2020. Find out more at our symposium Less Remote in Glasgow at the end of September.

Also in Paris, I met Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen of Hehe, who were in our last Artists Airshow. They have just been awarded the Golden Nica in the hybrid category at the forthcoming Prix Ars Electronica in Linz for their interactive green cloud (Nuage Vert) on a power station chimney emission in Helsinki (pictured above). The less power you use, the more intense the green cloud becomes...

To Manifesta this week, spread around four North Italian towns. Trento features the much-acclaimed Dawn Chorus by Marcus Coates while the Raqs Media Colllective from Delhi curates the Bolzano section.
Blog on its way soon...

Rob La Frenais, Curator