dead astronaut

source: pologovsky

“The image of the dead astronaut is a cross-fertilization of different sources. It has been partially influenced by recent publication of de-classified Russian reports about the number of cosmonauts who died during the space race of the 1960s; Russia and the US had lost over a dozen men trying to beat each other to the moon, but minimized or out right denied the tragic events at the time. The idea that these spacemen were heroic in life, but forgotten in death embodies a distinctly modernistic pursuit of progress, a sense of constantly striving forward and discarding the failures of the past. The sculpture also references the cover illustration of dime store science fiction novels of the 1960’s as well as countless Hollywood films where the image of an astronaut a drift in space is meant to symbolize a journey into the abyss. Such imagery abounds in classic sci-fi films, such 2001 Space Odyssey, as well as contemporary blockbuster such as Armageddon, not to mention other forms of popular culture, such as David Bowie’s 1969 “Space Oddity” (Major Tom song).”
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source: leehenderson

the artist David Poolman was curator of the Forest City gallery in London, Ontario and he invited me and Sheila Heti down there. At the same time as our reading was an exhibition by Brandon Vickerd. It was this crazy mechanical kinetic sculpture called ‘Champions of Entropy’ that used animal bones and antlers and weird jittery engines. I checked out Vickerd’s website recently and was totally blown away by this recent piece, Dead Astronaut, that he’s finished and is showing in Ontratio right now. It’s made of poplar, it’s meticulous and hardcore, it’s sci-fi and real life, it’s a real space odyssey of a piece.