The title of this project makes reference to the phenomena of the countdown, which has been used for centuries with a range of applications from starting a simple foot race to the launching of a rocket to the moon. However in the context of this artwork, the phrase is being used as a count-down to illustrate the mechanism in which the artwork in focus reaches the public i.e. it is shot into the "zero gravity field" of Virtual and Augmented Reality .
Historically, through cooperation with diverse space agencies, a select group of artists were able to place artworks in space. Some of the artworks were created to be left for intelligent extraterrestrial life forms to find them during their cosmic travels, in order to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth; other artworks were left in space as part of an ultimate exhibition space. The most well known zero gravity artworks today are those that are actually floating in space. The "Moon Museum" of Foster Meyer with works by Warhol, Rauschenberg, Oldenburg and others is on the moon, the "Orbital Reflector" of Trevor Paglan can be found in low earth orbit as Space Junk after a failed launch attempt, and the "Enoch" of Tavares Strachan can found geosynchronous orbit making its way around the earth in
To truly explore the concept zero gravity artwork, or "space art, the artwork Nine!, Eight! Seven! And So On... was created with keeping in mind how all of previous Space Artworks explored the concept and palette of zero gravity art. This plays a key role in how the work is conceived, the modus in which they are presented to the public, and how they are perceived in the end as being "Space Art". On the one hand, the work gives homage to those artworks actually in space and on the other hand, the work avoids the critic of creating more space junk then is needed by creating a virtual zero gravity space using today's AR and VR technologies that allows the viewing of space art in a synthetic space environment in which the components of the work can float and rotate as if they were suspended in real space and subject to orbital ebbs and flows of the earth.
Nine!, Eight! Seven! And So On... acts as "Galaxy Gallery" in which the viewer can experience a range of zero gravity artworks in the form of star constellations made up of new as well as vintage works that resemble the originals in an abstract but recognizable way. As the viewer shoots through the galaxy using a smart device, time dissolves and old and new space artworks are viewed in passing as one passes them by in travels experience into the unknowns of a Sci-Fi like scenario.
Background
The work takes on four diverse forms which can be understood as stages and represent the development from a 2D graphic to an immersive 360 degree 3D experience.
Stage I: Paper Print Study
This stage ins an initial one and consists of the creation of a paper print graphic that depicts each of the star constellations that were derived from the model space artworks. This study was undertaken to create the asterisms based on real space artworks. It will be used for a brochure that offers a short history on the concepts of "zero gravity art", documents the content of the artwork itself, and outlines the processes behind creating the asterisms. A "before and after" document is part of the brochure and depicts the transformation of the artworks from real works into asterisms.
Stage II: Wall Print Study
The Wall Print Study is basically a second 2D graphic artwork "Galaxy Galerie" which is a study that was undertaken to explore how the asterisms combine into a galaxy of multiple constellations. It is created at high resolution so it can be printed out to span an entire wall, allowing to get a feeling of being immersed inside a "galaxy gallery".
Stage III: VR Project
This stage makes uses of the asterisms by transforming them from 2D images into a 3D objects. Once in the 3D form, the objects will be introduced into a VR environment that mimics zero gravity space so that the all of the objects will appear as floating freely in space. By floating the objects in a virtual zero gravity space, it becomes possible to give each of the object an orbit specific to the object itself and also one that is shared between all of the objects. For example, an object will have its own rotational orbit so that the viewer is able to view it from all of its sides and it will be part of an orbit that circles around the viewer of the work. In this manner, the viewer is immersed into a galaxy of constellations which subject to constant change and endless variation as the rotation unfolds on the two different orbital planes. Technically, the work is presented as a "sit and spin" VR work using a simple VR Headset such as Oculus Rift. Here, the viewer approaches the stand on which the viewer is placed, takes it and places it over his eyes, clicks the start button using the pointing devices to begin the viewing. The constellations appear a 360 degree circle around the viewer, who can turn his head to explore the galaxy gallery and discover each of the artworks that make of the galaxy.
Stage IV: AR Project
For this stage a the star constellations that were designed into 3D objects for the VR version of the work are taken and extended with new ones authored by the artists and his friends. These are then combined to create a three dimensional galaxy in an AR environment through wich the viewer of the work can travel through using his or her smart phone or tablet. A second element is designed for this stage of the work. A physical sculpture is used as a gateway to an added AR layer for the work. The sculpture is a replica of an imaginary 1960's rocket constructed out of laser cut acrylic mirror that is positioned on a rotational stand which illuminates the rocket from below. Although the sculpture fits perfectly to the theme of Space Art, it has a main feature is to bridge the real with the virtual world. This is accomplished by installing a light reflector into the fuselage of the the rocket sculpture which acts very much like a Moholy-Nagy modulator so that the light coning from the stand is refracted by the sculpture's surface and then scattered into the room. When looking through the camera of a smart phone or tablet to view the AR component of the work, the refracted light from the rocket mimics traveling in space in that the light fragments appear as a galaxy of stars that mix and match with the star constellations of the 3D environment being viewed.