Thought this might be of interest . . as usual, art experts are being consulted--from the universities!--and not the artists-- "by producing trial works on the ground" . . . ? (i can hear the background murmur of countless college classes . . ."the death of the avant-garde: . . . "the end of art" . . . "the end of experimentalism" . . . and NOW, Post Art Syndrome: "trial art" . . . for the jury to decide what will survive . . . elsewhere . . . coming soon to a theater no longer near you . . . ) --dbc ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 07:30:54 -0500 From: Bill Spornitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: "The.List": ; Subject: Art in Space from http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/0606cu06.htm NASDA to study effects of space on creativity Yomiuri Shimbun Art will join the hard sciences as a focus of the National Space Development Agency of Japan's planned research projects in outer space. Research on artistic creativity in space is to be conducted both on the ground and on the International Space Station (ISS), which is currently under construction in a joint effort by 16 countries, including Japan. NASDA expects the research to yield unique works of art because it is believed that the way humans perceive things can change in space. The agency also hopes that artistic activities in space could be a way to alleviate astronauts' stress on lengthy missions aboard the space station. NASDA will join with experts from Japanese art universities to discuss proposals regarding artistic activities for astronauts in outer space and to test those plans by producing trial works of art on the ground. ISS is scheduled to go into operation in 2004. NASDA will start building its JEM research laboratory in 2002 as a part of the ISS project. Missions planned for JEM mainly focus on engineering research and natural science experiments in zero gravity and studying strong radioactive rays in space. But artistic creation will now take its place on the research roster. Artistic endeavors in space are not unprecedented. Takao Doi made sketches while aboard the U.S. space shuttle Columbia in November 1997. Chiaki Mukai composed a tanka poem, a traditional Japanese verse form, during her mission on the U.S. space shuttle Discovery in October 1998. Copyright 2000 The Yomiuri Shimbun --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---