Space Art & Public Opinion: An Interview with Jim Plaxco

Sure, ISS research may cure diseases, but when it comes to selling space, it's the visuals that win the public's heart.  On a day when our tweetup is going to be tweated (err, treated) to a sensory feast, I figured it would be interesting to ask a space artist about how imagined views of space influence public opinion and what responsibilities space artists feel they have in selling visions of tomorrow.

Jim
Plaxco, a digital artist who specializes in space, astronomical, abstract and algorithmic art, kindly stepped up to the plate.  Most recently, Jim's work has appeared on the cover of Mars Quarterly, and, for the second year in a row, he's served as a judge for NASA's "Life and Work on the Moon" art contest.  Here's his blog and gallery.

How
do you think space art influences society's views on space, and the value of
exploring it?

It
influences the public's opinion by providing visions of what could be. People
living and working on the Moon are 21st century explorers. I think that the
idea of going where no man has gone before and establishing a human presence
appeals to something basic in human nature. 

Was
there a single moment early in your life when you became hooked on space? And
art?

My father died when I was very young. One of the few memories I have of him,
and my first memory of space, was when he took me out in our back yard and
showed me the Echo 2 satellite as it was passing overhead. That, science
fiction, and my fascination with the space program got me hooked on space
exploration early on.



I think that the origins of my interest in art can be traced back to my
interests in space. I would read books about our future in space and would be
captivated by the artwork that illustrated what it would look like to live and
work on this new frontier.

How you conceptualize places that haven't been seen in-person or a future
that may or may not happen? (like our return the moon or travel to other
planets)

Conceptualization
depends on what I am setting out to accomplish. I break astronomical and space
art into two categories. The first would be the school of realism in which the
art you create adheres to the known principles of science and engineering. The
second category would be that of anti-realism where science plays no role in
the creation of the artwork but imagination is everything. Discarding science,
I am free to use my imagination to conceptualize whatever types of worlds I
want.

Do
space artists have a professional code that they follow in terms of how
realistic their work needs to be, or are there widely held beliefs about their
responsibilities to the public in doing their work?

Traditionally because so much of the demand for space art is for use as
illustration for educational materials and science related publications, space
artists have prided themselves on using their knowledge of geology, planetary
science, and even physics, as the foundation for their artwork. It's a drive to
paint a scene that no one has ever seen so that if that place is ever visited,
that visitor will say "wow, he got it right."

So
many space artists recognize Chesley Bonestell as an inspiration. What is it
that separates his work from others? What other artists have inspired you?

For
Bonestell, it was timing, imagination, vision, composition, and believability.
Looking at a Bonestell painting one could imagine that Chesley had a time and
space machine that allowed him to travel to the future on other worlds,
photograph what he saw, and present it to us as a painting.



For the most part I've been inspired by non-space artists. Artists of the Hudson River Valley School,
J M W Turner, and M C Escher. With respect to space art in addition to Chesley
Bonestell, I'd say Pat Rawlings and Lucien Rudaux. In the field of science
fiction I would add John Harris and John Berkey.

Can you tell us the story behind a work you're particularly proud of?
Perhaps your thinking behind Quantum Moon?

I
was reading How To Read A Modern Painting which discusses the painting A
Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Seurat  - a painting I've viewed a number
of times at the Chicago Art Institute. I was fascinated with the pointillist
technique and wanted to experiment with a digital derivative of my own. Quantum
Moon was a product of that experimentation.

(Cross-posted at SellingTomorrows.com)