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L'Observatoire de l'Espace, CNES
ESA

status:

Inner Telescope

Eduardo Kac

2017

Found materials

This work is an instrument of observation and poetic reflection. It was specifically conceived for zero gravity and was made in space by an astronaut.

Inner Telescope

Eduardo Kac has created an artwork aboard the International Space Station (ISS); French astronaut Thomas Pesquet realized it on Saturday, February 18th, 2017.

Kac's work, entitled Inner Telescope, was specifically conceived for zero gravity and was not brought from Earth: it was made in space by Pesquet following the artist's instructions.


The artwork was made from materials already available in the space station. It consists of a form that has neither top nor bottom, neither front nor back. Viewed from a certain angle, it reveals the French word “MOI“ [meaning “me”, or "myself"]; from another point of view one sees a human figure with its umbilical cord cut. This “MOI“ stands for the collective self, evoking humanity, and the umbilical cord cut represents our liberation from gravitational limits.


Inner Telescope is an instrument of observation and poetic reflection, which leads us to rethink our relationship with the world and our position in the Universe.

Since the 1980s, Eduardo Kac has been theorizing and producing art and poetry that challenge the limits of gravity. His Space Poetry manifesto was published in 2007. Now, in 2017, Kac finally realizes the dream he has pursued for more than 30 years: the creation, production and experience of a work directly in outer space.


Inner Telescope was produced by the Observatoire de l'Espace (Space Observatory), the cultural lab of the French Space Agency (CNES), with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Eduardo Kac

Eduardo Kac

USA, Brazil

Collection:

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Full Record Details

Inner Telescope

Launch date​:

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17 Nov 2016

Soyuz 49S

Glavkosmos

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Russian Federation

2016-070A

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Host COSPAR id:

LEO, International Space Station (ISS)

International Space Station

1998-067A

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Current status:

Ended

Project partners:

L'Observatoire de l'Espace, CNES
ESA

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COSPAR id:

Inner Telescope

Eduardo Kac

2017

Found materials

Sculpture, Ephemera, Performance

none

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