Week 9 Space & Art

This week, we learned about how space became the next frontier that drew the fascination of people around the world. Naturally, following the endeavors to unlock the mysteries of the universe, was the attempt to depict the universe using art. One of the most popular applications of art in space exploration was the use of film.

 

One film that had widespread influence was E.T, directed by Steven Spielberg. This movie follows a young boy and his friendship with a gentle extraterrestrial named E.T. The movie featured the use of special effects and various costumes used to compliment the audience’s imagination/conception of outer-space and extraterrestrial beings. 

Another film that had a large, but different appeal was Star Wars, directed by George Lucas. This movie series expanded on space exploration while building on nationalist emotions that were pervading the atmosphere of the 70s (with the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and the end of the Vietnam war). It portrays space as a new frontier that contains millions of different species all living in different planets and galaxies interacting just as we do (but with a little more advanced technology). Although Star Wars is more fantasy than reality, it still had a large impact on the idea of outer space. This depiction of space allowed people to relate more to outer-space even though it was such a foreign concept to them, and it led to greater interest and research devoted to discovering the secrets of the universe. 

Star Wars even penetrated the world on a political level, when Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative. The proposition was so absurd (lasers to shoot down missiles), that it was dubbed the Star Wars Project. 

Video Game Art from Skyrim

Personally, I find that film has had a large influence on how I view space exploration. However, even video games have had artistic depictions of space. I remember playing games about building civilization on distant planets starting from scratch and being fascinated by the quality of the graphics in the skyline. This kind of relates to how this topic involves all of our previous lessons. Technology, nanotech, science, math, etc. all are necessary points for the topic of space.

Sources:

Contributor, Elizabeth Howell Space.com. "Star Wars: History and Legacy on Space Exploration." Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017.

"E.T. Plot Summary." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 04 June 2017.

"How Star Wars changed the special effects industry." The New Economy. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017.

"The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017.

"Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones." An award-winning, unique resource of film reference material for film buffs and others, with reviews of classic American-Hollywood films, Academy Awards history, film posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017.