Thick Space –Surface/Interface, Perception, and Space Exploration

Paper number

IAC-06-E5.P.05

Author

Ms. Martha Blassnigg, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom

Coauthor

Dr. Michael Punt, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom

Coauthor

Mrs. Nina Czegledy, Critical Media Society, ISEA, Canada

Year

2006

Abstract

The contention of this paper is that maps are surfaces where both knowledge and experiences become inscribed. Scientific instruments and methodologies of celestial mapping have contributed to our knowledge of the cosmos. At the same time they can also become a site for more mythological or metaphysical enquiries, such as an expression of the interplay of forces and intensities as they are experienced. This suggests that the mapping of deep space may be as much an imaginative expression of cultural perceptions of the self as it is a data driven scientific statement about the cosmos. In a joint paper we will advance this argument using examples from a range of disciplines and periods.

Nina Czegledy will offer a comparison between historical and contemporary perception of space including celestial mapping drawing on historical references from the 16th century contrasting these with contemporary cartography such as the use of cosmic X-rays and the Hipparcos satellite (European Space Agency). Maps, especially celestial maps, can also carry a symbolic social and political significance beyond the craft of cartography. For example the Astronomers Bazaar provides access to thousands of online astronomical catalogues, including ALADIN, accessible on a home computer and renders a democratic worldwide (web) cosmos. 

From a more introspective point of view, Martha Blassnigg will show how maps can be seen as inscribed surfaces entangling the scientific and the imaginary aspirations of the moment: As such they can be read as complex archaeological traces of perception. By taking an anthropological approach to the concept of mapping knowledge she will revisit the discussion of representations of the 'other' in visual anthropology and propose a correlation between the perception of the self and the mapping of Space. 

Finally Michael Punt will draw attention to popular technologies of representation and scientific imaging. He will use examples from the beginning of cinema when science and technology were intimately entwined with entertainment to show that however absolute our knowledge may appear at a given moment, in its representation it will always be provisional since it is subject to a thick cultural and historical context. 

By opening up an understanding of the mapping of space as a rhetoric of history, culture and representation we draw attention to the contemporary understanding of the cosmos as no more than a moment in the flight of history. In so doing we argue that the arts and the sciences as products of the historical moment are jointly responsible for the state of contemporary knowledge.

Abstract document

IAC-06-E5.P.05.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-E5.P.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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