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About the Exhibition
Opening reception: Friday, January 22, 5 - 9 pm
In the 1870’s the United States hadn’t yet acquired
its idea of “The West.” Government surveys generated
reports of fantastic discoveries, making for compelling reading
in magazines like Scribner’s. Thomas Moran, a Philadelphia
artist, was tasked with illustrating an article about the
‘Yellowstone’ region. Ultimately his aesthetic
decisions captured the nation’s attention and helped
inspire the creation the National Park System, the expansion
of the railroads westward, and the ‘development’
of the American West.
One hundred years later, space exploration was thought to
be a continuation of this model of discovery and conquest.
While representing the most advanced technology humans can
produce, the further extension of people into space seems
an increasingly lackluster prospect. Space missions are often
carried out by remote control, reducing at once both risk
and interest.
The Brower Propulsion Laboratory has developed an exploratory
mission based on these two quintessentially American historical
phenomena. For its third full-scale mission, three spacecraft
will be launched (a lander, a rover, and an airborne ‘nanosatellite’)
near Livingston, Montana in 2010.
BPL has painstakingly crafted several technical apparatus
that will be used to revisit the sites originally depicted
by Thomas Moran. In an attempt to see this much observed region
with fresh eyes, as Moran may have done 140 years ago, the
vernacular of the exploration of another planet will be applied
to sites deeply embedded in the American self-image. Data
will be collected and analyzed and experiments conducted.
The potential for “life” in this region will be
assessed, in its varied and complicated contexts. Details
of the mission will be posted at browerpropulsionlab.com,
where visitors will be able to interact with spacecraft systems.
Several demonstrations and workshops are scheduled to take
place over the course of the exhibition.
About BPL
Brower Propulsion Laboratory is a quasi-fictitious aerospace
company created by Steven Brower around 2007. Brower’s
artwork is characterized by a broad diversity of media and
makes extensive use of scientific research. Brower has used
NASA projects as a basis for his own fictionalized versions
of hand-rendered spacecraft, space suits, robots, pocket protectors,
and even BPL’s corporate structure. The resulting works
are a hybrid of American ingenuity and irreverent criticality.
For more information, visit stevenbrower.com
About the Gallery
The Esther Klein Gallery (EKG) is expanding under
a new program called Breadboard. Breadboard is a hybrid program
that explores intersections between contemporary art, design,
science and technology. Expanding on 30-plus years of Esther
Klein Gallery programming, Breadboard’s mission is to
convene communities around creative applications of technology.
Breadboard manages two venues located at the University City
Science Center: the Esther Klein Gallery (EKG) at 3600 Market
Street in Philadelphia and the Breadboard Community Space
at 3711 Market Street. For more information and exhibit updates,
visit breadboardphilly.org.
EKG will continue in its mission of putting forth challenging
exhibits that explore the intersection of art, science and
technology at its 3600 Market Street gallery. Current EKG
staff will transition to become the new Breadboard administrative
team as EKG operations are coordinated with expanded Breadboard
resources and programming objectives.
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