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When imagining human life in space, how will we express our humanity and creativity in an alien environment? Can the art we make both reflect the unique qualities of space and keep us connected to Earth?

Fluid Expressions incorporates science, art, and design into an exploration of art-making and place-making in outer space. The work centers around the design and craft of an object called a memory capsule, designed to function as both a traveler’s painting kit for space and an embodied, material reminder of home.

Fluid Expressions aims to explore the relationship between place and the art we create, how we see our homes from afar, and what inspires us about journeying into new regions that challenge and evolve our perceptions. 

The speculative nature of this work is grounded in real obstacles and opportunities afforded by travel off-planet, offering a hypothetical near-term future in which artists are among those who travel to and record our experiences of outer space.

This work was made possible by the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, who allowed two iterations of this project to fly aboard Zero-G parabolic flights in May 2021 and 2022, in order to perform with the memory capsule and test its capabilities during periods of weightlessness. This zero-g performance provides an invaluable opportunity to bridge the gap between speculative design and its intended environment, allowing for future iteration and development of this work.

Copyright

Credit: Sana Sharma

A solo exhibition showcasing Fluid Expressions through the lens of speculative fiction is hosted by the Harvard GSD Kirkland Gallery. The speculative fiction can be found at  https://fluid-expressions.glitch.me/

To learn more about the exhibition, please visit the following website:

Design & Process