ART IN SPACE
From the precision of a San Francisco clean room to the vastness of low Earth orbit, my work has found a new home in Orbit! Etched onto a Planet Super Dove satellite and launched via SpaceX, this piece now circles the globe as part of a permanent, orbiting gallery.
At the start of 2022, my practice took an unexpected turn toward the stratosphere. Usually, the journey of a piece ends when it's hung in someone's home or tucked away in my studio, but this project had a much higher destination. My work was laser-etched onto the side of a Planet's Super Dove Satellite and sent directly into orbit.
The journey started in a high-tech clean room in San Francisco and after weeks of assembly and testing, the satellite was shipped across the country to Florida, waiting at the SpaceX launch complex for its moment.
On January 13th, 2022, at 3:25 AM, it finally launched in to the atmophere.
Because of that launch, my work is now officially part of Planet’s Art in Space Gallery, which is an orbiting collection of pieces from artists all over the globe, circling the Earth as we speak.
The design itself was inspired by the movement of stars which is a bit of a full-circle moment considering where it ended up. There was a unique technical challenge to this one as well, I had to work within a strict brief where the design could only occupy 20% of the reflector panel. Any more than that, and the satellite wouldn’t function correctly. It was a delicate balancing act between aesthetics and aerospace engineering.
My Super Dove didn't go up alone. It got a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of their third dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program. It was tucked in with 40 other pieces of Planet technology, marking a historic 10th launch and landing for that specific Falcon 9.
Watching the footage of the rocket cutting through the atmosphere, knowing a piece of me was etched into its cargo, was an incredible feeling and remains one of my proudest achievements.