NASA recently invited artists of all kinds to visit its Goddard Space Flight Center and be inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope mirror, which is fully assembled and covered in microscopic layers of actual gold. The event showcased a special viewing of the giant telescope and attracted an overwhelming number of applications. Out of the numerous applicants, twenty-four artists were selected to attend and represented a broad range of artistic media and styles, including watercolor, 3D printed sculpture, silk screening, acrylics, sumi-e (East Asian brush technique), comics, letterpress, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry making, fiber art, ink, mural painting, kite-making, tattooing, scientific illustration, poetry, songwriting, and video making.
During their visit, artists spent time sitting right in front of the telescope, taking photos and filming a music video, and sketching and painting. Some of the pieces of art were produced at the event while most of the artists returned home filled with new ideas and full sketchbooks.
One such artist that created a work for the event is Lauren Emeritz, who produced a letterpress work titled See the Galaxy and Beyond. The letters in her work were hand drawn and laser cut out of wood and then printed using a letterpress. The piece explores new techniques and processes, while the hexagons in the background represent the unfinished telescope.
NASA continues to add event photos and art here to their Flickr page. To stay up to date with NASA’s projects and events, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google Plus, and Instagram.
Posted by James Webb Space Telescope on 2017-03-10 15:24:36