Two local artists are planning to put a prayer wheel into space. Seriously. Fifteen feet in diameter, and designed to be visible from Earth, The Skywheel Project is the topic of conversation at a community gathering from 7 to 9 PM on Saturday, November 3rd, at the Bungalow Art Center’s Mondo Cinema Screening Room.
Kim Garrison Means and Steve Radosevich have been collaborating artistically for more than a decade under the studio name of United Catalysts. They’ve also collaborated to discuss the project with me, so the statements, below, are attributed to both of them. Four years ago a friend, Andrew Cecil, became Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Roswell Museum and Art Center in New Mexico, and, based on their prior work that had dealt with the sky, invited them to visit the archives of Robert H. Goddard, an early rocket pioneer.
“While we were there, we became fascinated by Goddard’s life and work, especially the fact that he lived during a time when ideas about space travel were moving from science fiction to physical possibility.
“He really paved the way. He was working on every aspect of space travel and was granted over 200 patents covering the foundations, and he was the first scientist to claim that we could leave the atmosphere and actually get to space one day. He never lived to see space travel happen, and space become a commodity. He lived in the world in which space was still considered the heavens.
“We were fascinated by this shift that took place in Goddard’s lifetime, between space as the unreachable, sacred heavens, home of ancestors, gods, the great mysteries, and space as human destination, commodity, potential military battleground, a place to be conquered.
“This led us to want to create artwork that uses space technology to express more philosophical issues, and with an intention of inviting a healing of this rift, perhaps. We realized this was the first time in history a project like this could be realized technologically.
“We noticed a rift between the old way of looking at the sky and the new way, differentiated by technological advancement. We felt something was lost as we gained this technology. We felt that space had become commodified, and we had lost a sense of collective ownership that we had felt in the past, when space was a place you traveled to in your dreams.
“We are not saying that we are healing this rift, but that we are motivated by wanting humanity to regain some of this collective sense of ownership. And these are the philosophical issues we were talking about before: that space can be a realm of dreams, of connecting to the past, and connecting to the future. It can be a mirror for reflection of ourselves. We can see ourselves as a whole, our planet as a whole, and our place in the universe.
“Knowledge doesn’t have to supplant wonder. These words, awe and wonder, don’t just mean curiosity, but also imply a sense of respect. Not all cultures have lost this sense of the sky as a sacred space. In our culture perhaps we have traded in our sense of the sacredness of earth and sky for a reliance on science and technology.
“We want to pose a philosophical, spiritual, and realistic question with this project: What are your best wishes for the earth and future generations of people that will follow in the next 1,000 years? It is this type of blessing that we are wanting the people of our time to have the opportunity to express.
“We live in a precarious time. We are facing global challenges, and need to come together as a planet to make the changes necessary to face them. In order to be motivated to make these changes, many of which are not easy, we have to feel a stronger sense of connectedness to each other. We need to reconnect to our sense of the sacredness of our planet and existence, and we need to make a shift in how we measure our success. We need to measure it by the health of our planet and its inhabitants, not by the personal accumulation of knowledge or wealth.
“This is both a metaphysical and a practical issue. We are individually driven to do well for ourselves, to acquire personal knowledge, power and wealth, but we have a responsibility to think and act for the benefit of the whole world. This is a new responsibility, one that has come with our new advancements in technology, and its consequences.
“Still, it is an art project, after all. We enjoy talking philosophy, but we don’t think we are going to fix everything. The main work of the project is here on Earth, getting people involved. We have received text from over 60 spiritual traditions, submitted by people around the world. We have an outreach program of volunteers and interns, and we research and vet all the text people give us.
“We have created the overall designs of the satellite and are now working on a demonstration model of the satellite, to become the focal point of a touring art exhibition. We are collaborating with Microcosm, Inc., on creating an engineering design and launch package for the satellite. We are just finishing up work on an interactive art exhibition and will begin exhibition in 2013.
“The cost of a launch is probably less than you think. Depending on the particular rocket, or ‘ride,’ the total cost including the construction of two satellites should not exceed six million dollars. As a public art project, we are raising much of the money through the generation of artwork, at this stage. There is a tiered structure to the progression of the project. We have also received donations through the 501c3 non- profit, Space For Vision.
“The satellite won’t mean anything orbiting the Earth if no one knows about it down here. This is why we are creating an exhibition and arts events, to get people involved. It also won’t mean anything if it doesn’t represent the people on Earth, so we spend a lot of energy getting people involved. And one way to participate is to make a donation of support to realizing the project. It’s a direction of one’s energy.
“So the first tier is grass-roots oriented, and the second is art oriented. We have a numbered series of etchings available by donation. Each includes hand-lettered micro-writing of text to be included, chosen by the purchaser, and are hand-colored, so they are all one of a kind. The exhibition will have work for purchase as it travels. The money from the exhibition will help fund the building of the satellite.
“Much of this project is happening through volunteer work and the donation of materials and services, from engineers, design professionals, and everyday people. It is a labor of love for many people.”
The event on November 3rd will include a lecture, power point presentation, stories of the creative journey, and new artwork from the upcoming exhibition. They’re seeking support, but don’t think of it as a fundraising event, per se.
“We’d like to invite people to participate in the project by sending us text to include, or volunteering in our outreach program, or telling others. This is more about raising awareness about the project and creating dialogue in the community. But, we should include our current fundraising goal in the article. We’re raising $80,000 for an engineering and launch package design by Microcosm Inc, the aerospace firm we are working with that specializes in small-scale satellites. People can support the project with a tax-deductible donation online, through the Skywheel website.”
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The Mondo Cinema Screening Room is located at 729 Pine Avenue.
For more information about The Skywheel Project, visit Skywheel.org.
To learn about past and future United Catalysts projects, visit UnitedCatalysts.net.