A study of the birth of space-age culture and aesthetics art in seven decades ago in 1950s
- Paper number
IAC-23,E4,2,11,x76730
- Author
Prof. Eva Yi-Wei Chang, University of Science & Technology, Taipei
- Coauthor
Prof. Jeng-Shing (Rock) Chern, International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Canada
- Year
2023
- Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to study the birth of space-age culture and aesthetics art in 1950s, i.e., seven decades ago. Besides the technological research and development for space explorations, groups of workers and artists including cultural workers, painting artists, architects, fashion designers, installation artwork artists, etc. had done many contributions in the development of space-age culture and aesthetics art from late 1940s to 1950s. According to the Collins Dictionary, the space age is the present period in the history of the world when travel in space has become possible, and people use space-age to describe something that is very modern and makes you think of the technology of the space age. In American English, space age is the period in modern history characterized by space exploration, usually considered as beginning October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, into orbit around the earth. There are plenty of happenings during the space age: popularizations of automobile, prosperities in aviation travel, smart phone, iPad, liquid crystal television, personal computer, etc. People are living in a more advanced and much smarter environments. In the space community, development of high technology enhances exploration width and depth. In the art and fashion communities, many art innovations with plenty of space-age aesthetics have been innovated and created. Since art is one of the major elements of our culture, it is also one major part of our daily life and society. For the space exploration, the space telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), etc. have taken so many beautiful cosmic images. Under the inspiration of space exploration, many cultural workers and artists not only created so many masterpieces with plenty of space-age aesthetics, but also witnessed and recorded the development history of the space age. Some of the representative figures are Victor Vasarely (Hungarian and French, 1906–1997), Chesley Bonestell (American, 1888-1986), Raquel Forner (Argentinian, 1902–1988), Robert Theodore McCall (American, 1919–2010), Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925–2008), Pierre Cardin (Italian and French, 1922–2020), and André Courrèges (French, 1923–2016). In the Commission 6 of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the theme is “Space, Society, Culture and Education”, means the “Art and Culture” is one of its major scopes. Therefore, it is really necessary to study and introduce these facts.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-23,E4,2,11,x76730.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.