In collaboration with the UK Space Agency and ClydeSpace, iam8bit Gallery in Los Angeles designed art for a satellite that was launched into orbit today.
The UKube-1 satellite is small enough to fit in one's hand, but there is more technology inside than we can list (full specs here). It is the first satellite to be designed and built in Scotland and it is also the first mission to be commissioned by the UK Space Agency. In explaining the collaboration with iam8bit to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, ClydeSpace CEO Craig Clark said, "We’ve got some of iam8bit’s artwork in our office, and it’s quite techie and blocky and chunky, so it fit with what we were doing... We had some spare space on the outside of the spacecraft, so I asked them if they would like to put some miniature artwork on the satellite."
In creating the art for the UKube-1, iam8bit co-owners and creative directors Jon Gibson and Amanda White had to consider the satellite's purpose and not just create a piece at random. Gibson told the SGV Tribune that he and White are "very into defining a context and building a mythos out of that context, so the context of satellite art would be how would someone interact with it."
He also shared a little about how they arrived at the final design: "Alien visitors or alien invaders would be interacting, so we wanted to provide some whimsy and cleverness for when these so-called aliens either come to greet us or destroy us...Part of the idea wasn’t just the fun of it, but it was also a commentary, perhaps, on how connected and isolated humans are with their devices. Everyone’s attached to their phones, tablets and desktops and we wanted to communicate that in a fun, whimsical way up in space."
Craig Clark referred to the art as "satellite tattoos" and welcomed the idea of more art in space. The SGV Tribune article referred to this project as the "first-ever satellite art," butInvader did that a couple years ago with one of his mosaics, and Planet Labs director Forest Stearns followed suit with laser etched satellites a few months ago. Nevertheless, the project is cool and we also hope that it happens more often in the near future.
RELATED: Forest Stearns Laser Etched Animals Scenes Onto Satellites Before Sending Them Into Space
[via SGV Tribune]
