From October 4, 2021, to January 5, 2022, the Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences presented the exhibition Reflections on a Tool of Observation: Artwork Inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope. It featured artwork by Tim Makepeace inspired by the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In 2017, Makepeace was one of several artists selected by NASA to visit the JWST under construction at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and create artwork inspired by its construction. Seeing the instrument in the terrestrial environment where it was being constructed set up a dichotomy with its exquisite engineering, as well as with the transcendent knowledge of the universe that it will eventually help us gain. This contrast of the mundane and sublime is a theme that guides Makepeaces resulting work. This publication is a documentation of the exhibition and features the transcript of an interview with Makepeace and Bowdoin College Art Museum co-director Anne Collins Goodyear, as well as an essay by Maggie Masetti, social media lead and website manager, NASA James Webb Space Telescope.
17 pages
·
8.5 x 11
·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70209-7
National Academy of Sciences. 2022. Reflections on a Tool of Observation: Artwork Inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope by Tim Makepeace. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Import this citation to: