NEW YORK — When American space tourist Richard Garriott launched to the International Space Station in 2008, he carried with him a collection of original artwork to display on the orbiting outpost in a unique weightless exhibit. These pieces of art that flew in space, and graced the walls of the space station, are now set to make their terrestrial debut here this weekend.
The Celestial Matters art exhibition features works of art by 10 American artists that were displayed on the International Space Station during Garriott's flight. The show also includes artwork that was created by Garriott himself while he was in orbit.
The free exhibit, which is presented by Zero G Art, opens today (Oct. 14) at the Charles Bank Gallery in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and will run through Sunday (Oct. 16).
"It's a tribute to what happens when imagination and scientific study meet," Messer-Martin told SPACE.com. "It shows you what the potential of human beings really is. It's the next level of evolution — first, is the ability to do something, and then comes the ability to analyze and process that, and the next step is the appreciation of it. I think art is the culmination of all that."
There's something about space
The Celestial Matters exhibit will be the first time these pieces of art are shown on Earth. They made their debut in space during Garriott's flight, when he became part of an elite group of space tourists who paid millions of dollars to journey to the International Space Station with private aerospace firm Space Adventures.
Garriott's own life is somewhat of an intersection between science and art; his mother is a professional artist, and his father, retired NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, spent just over 59 days in orbit over the course of two missions. The younger Garriott's childhood dream of becoming an astronaut was thwarted by poor eyesight, but he never gave up the desire to fly in space.
"By the age of 13, when I found out I was ineligible to be a NASA astronaut, I became devoted to flying privately, knowing that the only way I was going to go would be if there was a thriving business that took people," Garriott told SPACE.com.
"I think people today feel very separated from spaceflight," Garriott said. "They don't feel tangibly associated with it. This art exhibit in space, and from space, is a great way to humanize this otherwise cold activity and help bring space to the masses. We wanted to bring the inspiration and thinking about space to people in a new and different way."
"The International Space Station is a symbol of collaboration," Messer-Martin said. "The fact that a private citizen like Richard Garriott, who is totally self-made, could find a way there, and the fact that there are companies like Space Adventures that enable people to get there — I think even ten years ago, it would be beyond peoples' imagination that they could do this. This exhibit is a symbol of human potential in every element, and it's a tribute to that."
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