Imagining the Universe: Cosmology in Art and Science
A year-long series of events includes speakers, performances and an exhibition at the Cantor. This month Gustav Holst's The Planets will be performed in Bing Concert Hall accompanied by projections of our solar system provided by NASA. Read more
Loose in Some Real Tropics
Robert Rauschenberg's Stoned Moon Projects, 1969-70
Cantor Arts Center
Dec. 20, 2014 – March 16, 2015
In 1969, American artist Robert Rauschenberg was invited by the NASA Art Program to document the launch of Apollo 11, the first manned spaceflight to the moon. In response, Rauschenberg produced Stoned Moon, a series of 34 large-format lithographs replete with scenes of astronauts and complex machinery. The exhibition Loose in Some Real Tropics features a number of the Stoned Moon lithographs, together with 20 rarely seen collages and drawings, photographs of the artist visiting NASA's facilities, correspondence between the artist and the NASA Art Program, and more.
Robert Rauschenberg (U.S.A., 1925–2008), Drawing for Stoned Moon Book, 1970. Photo collage with watercolor and colored pencil on illustration board. Lent by Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photo by Glenn Steigelman.
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Imagining the Universe: Cosmology in Art and Science
Imagining the Universe: Cosmology in Art and Science brings together scientists, artists and humanists to explore the nature of the universe. Organized by an interdisciplinary consortium drawing on departments and programs from across the university and launched in October 2014, the series reflects Stanford's commitment to campus-wide connections among the sciences and arts. Goals include deepening our understanding and appreciation for the richness of the universe, and appreciating what can be learned about ourselves from the way we depict the cosmos.
"The idea for the collaboration came from Peter Michelson, chair of the Department of Physics, who was present at the premiere of Cosmic Reflection, a symphonic composition by Stanford alumnus Nolan Gasser [PhD '01], accompanied by a video created in collaboration with NASA Goddard," said Matthew Tiews, the associate dean for the advancement of the arts. "Peter's idea of bringing that piece to Stanford sparked a wide-ranging conversation about art, science, how we seek to understand our cosmos, and what that tells us about being human. This collaboration reflects contributions from numerous individuals and at least a dozen departments and programs from across campus."
The beginning of the universe … series
Standing in front of a slide of the Cat's Eye Nebula in Pigott Hall, poet Tracy K. Smith considered the title of Stanford's yearlong interdisciplinary series Imagining the Universe: Cosmology in Art and Science. "I love the vastness of the topic," she told the audience.
“Imagining, for me, is an act that allows for a different engagement with things, be they real or invented, than that which the rapid forward movement of real time affords,” she said. Thinking about the second half of the series title, the universe, Smith added that specific images and correlating ideas came to mind, “images and ideas that set my collection of poems, Life on Mars, into motion.”
Smith's conversation and readings from her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Life on Mars launched the Universe series in October 2014. The next event in the series imagined the universe through the lens of music, spirituality and tradition with the Venerable Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and director of the Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy in Sichuan province, China. Khenpo gave a talk followed by chanting and a concert in his honor in November 2014.
The concert was an international collaboration in real time that was broadcast live via the Internet from the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford (CCRMA) Stage at The Knoll on campus. It included simultaneous performances from CCRMA Director Chris Chafe on celletto (an electronic cello) and other performers in Virginia, Santa Barbara, Calif., and Mexico.
Photo: Ved Chirayath
“Peter's idea...sparked a wide-ranging conversation about art, science, how we seek to understand our cosmos, and what that tells us about being human.”
—Matthew Tiews, associate dean for the advancement of the arts
The universe unfolds
The Cantor Arts Center is currently hosting the exhibition Loose in Some Real Tropics: Robert Rauschenberg's "Stoned Moon" Projects, 1969–70, through March 15, 2015. In 1969, Rauschenberg was invited by the NASA Art Program to document the launch of Apollo 11, the first manned spaceflight to the moon. He produced Stoned Moon, a series of 34 large-format lithographs replete with scenes of astronauts and complex machinery. The exhibition features a number of the lithographs together with 20 rarely seen collages and drawings, photographs of the artist visiting NASA's facilities, and correspondence between the artist and the NASA Art Program.
Imagining the Universe performances include Stanford Symphony Orchestra multimedia productions of Gustav Holst's The Planets, Jan. 30–31, 2015, and Nolan Gasser's Cosmic Reflection, May 16–17, 2015. The Department of Theater & Performance Studies will stage a reading of Bertolt Brecht's Life of Galileo in Bing Studio, May 14–16, 2015.
Public conversations that started with poet Smith have continued with Mae Jemison, Stanford alumna and the first woman of color to go into space, in December 2014. Alyson Shotz, visual artist and former Sterling Visiting Scholar in Stanford's Department of Chemical & Systems Biology, gave a lecture earlier this month; interdisciplinary installation artist Matthew Ritchie follows with his public lecture on Feb. 26, 2015; and Andrei Linde, Stanford professor of physics and one of the authors of the big bang inflationary theory, will address the question, "Universe or multi-universe?" on April 21, 2015.
Finally, Stanford freshmen are pondering the cosmos in the winter quarter course Thinking About the Universe: What do we know? How do we know it? This Thinking Matters freshman introductory course is taught by two physicists, Peter Graham and Peter Michelson, and a philosopher, Thomas Ryckman.
Photo: Ved Chirayath
Contacts
Robin Wander, Stanford Communications: (650) 734‑6184,
robin.wander@stanford.edu
Ashley Kennedy, Stanford Arts Institute: (650) 736‑0705,
kennedya@stanford.edu