| AIR & SPACE OVERVIEW | MIR |
MIR
Art in Variable Gravity
8 November - 14 December 2003
Cornerhouse, Manchester
The human race will not stay on Earth for ever, but in pursuit of light and space, will first tentatively break out of the Earth's atmosphere and will then conquer the entire solar system".
- Konstantin Tsyolkovsky (1857-1935)
MIR - Art in Variable Gravity presented new video and installation works commissioned by science-art agency the Arts Catalyst, by Stefan Gec (UK), Vadim Fishkin (Rus/Slo), Yuri Leiderman (Rus), Otolith group Kodwo Eshun, Anjalika Sagar and Richard Couzins (UK), and film-maker Andrew Kotting (UK), with photographs by Evgeni Nesterov (Rus).
When Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth in 1961, he became a hero of the Soviet nation. After his historic flight, he reported that weightlessness was no problem. Despite Gagarin's optimism, however, zero gravity presents an immense problem for long-term human space travel and habitation, due to its harmful effects on the body.
The physical properties inherent within gravity rarely form part of our conscious perception. Much of our physical system is adapted to, indeed "designed" by gravity. Even though we are not usually conscious of how gravity affects us, removing, increasing or altering this force has a profound impact on our physiology and behaviour.
Until now, scientists have been the primary researchers in this field, and the aesthetic and creative possibilities of zero gravity have barely been explored due to the exclusiveness of the environment. Space exploration, however, is as much a cultural as it is a scientific issue. In recent years, a small handful of artists have managed, through negotiations with international space agencies, to access the restricted environment of parabolic flights (diving aircraft). Pioneers have been MIR partners the Arts Catalyst,who have flown artists on both Russian and European zero gravity flights, and Projekt Atol Flight Operations who pioneered zero gravity flights for artists with the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia.
All the works in the MIR exhibition emerged from the recent MIR (microgravity interdisciplinary research) campaigns which have enabled artists and scientists to undertake projects in zero gravity at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, heart of the Russian space programme and one of the former 'closed cities' of the Soviet Union. For the first time, artist Stefan Gec was allowed access to the giant centrifuge in Star City to create a new work. His experience and the results will be shown in this exhibition.
MIR (Microgravity Interdisciplinary Research) is a consortium of European based arts organisations, Arts Catalyst, V2, Projekt Atol and Leonardo-Olats, which was founded in 2001 to promote interdisciplinary and art/science research in microgravity and altered gravity conditions. Two campaigns, with a total of three parabolic flights and a centrifuge experiment were organised within the MIR framework in Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City), Russia.
MIR DJ Event
Fri 7 Nov
9.00pm till late
Featuring sets by Kodwo Eshun and Ewen Chardronnet on the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The day remains an official holiday in Russia.
Unknown Territories:
Sat 8 Nov
12:00 noon - 3:30pm
Cinema Two
Panel discussion chaired by Marko Peljhan (Slovenia), artist and founder of the Makrolab project, Venice Biennale 2003, documenta X. Including presentations by Arts Catalyst director Nicola Triscott and curator Rob La Frenais. Also featuring: Ewen Chardronnet (France); Stefan Gec (UK) and Yuri Leiderman (Russia).
Artist In Residence: Ewen Chardronnet
8 November - 29 November
Gallery One
Ewen Chardronnet (Fr), media artist, researcher and writer, was in residence at Cornerhouse, initiating project and research work involving gallery visitors, communities, and other artist networks. Chardronnet is author of an anthology on the Association of Autonomous Astronauts (AAA), "Quitter la Gravité" (L'Eclat, 2001 - Escape from Gravity) and currently working within the Makrolab territory 2003, Campalto island operations in the Venice lagoon (http://makrolab.ljudmila.org)
