by GX Jupitter-Larsen
I’ve always been enamored by entropy, and entropy implies measuring. If it wasn’t for decay, we wouldn’t be able to notice the passing of time. This is where the act of counting comes in, because counting implies travel.
On October 26 1992, while travelling on a train from Venice to Paris, I did a performance piece in which I continuously marched up and down the span of the passenger-cars, counting the number of steps being taken. By the end of the journey, I had counted 184,000 in total.
Now, in an age when state agencies are sending robotic explorers into space, it is only natural that we artists should launch our own robotic counterparts.
It is only natural that the creative person should want to expand their studio or stage into space. I don’t want to put a gallery in space, but use space itself as the gallery. The context of earth orbit as a performance platform, along with a satellite as an electronic mechanized performer opens up a wide range of opportunities to redefine the boundaries of human experience.
Just as with Land Art, in which sculptures are not placed in the landscape, but rather, the landscape becomes the medium of creation. So too, ultimately, I think a Space Art should be art that is not just placed in the astro-scape, but instead inextricably links outer space to the artist’s touch.
The title of my Venice to Paris train performance was Comb About The Polywave. In Orbit About The Polywave, the mursat1 satellite mirrors the original performance by counting its own steps while in orbit.
