Vertical Horizons
1986
4 Oil paintings on canvas in GAS container.
NASA
Aside from survival, people living in space will have many needs, among them, the aesthetic. Artist Ellery Kurtz and environmental psychologist Howard Wishnow founded Vertical Horizons, a company dedicated to the enhancement of life in space.
Through NASA's Get Away Special (GAS) program an experiment was designed to test organic art materials such as oil-based paints, linen canvas, primers and bonding materials for degradation during space flight. The canister designated G-481 was the 46th such canister flown aboard a Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the Earth 98 times during it's mission duration time of 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds.
The Space Shuttle Columbia was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL on January 12, 1986 at 6:55:00 a.m. EST and landed at the Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on January 18, 1986 at 5:58:51 a.m. PST.
Vertical Horizons evaluated the materials both pre-flight and post-flight to learn how the space environment had affected them. The experiment formed a foundation for the future study of methods for transporting visual art objects in space.
Four original oil paintings by the artist were loaded into the GAS canister. These paintings are the first original oil paintings created by a human to orbit the Earth adding a significant page to the history of both art and space exploration.
Technical information:
Artwork name:
Vertical Horizons
Date:
Creator:
1986
Ellery Kurtz
Country:
USA
This work is part of the following collection:
none
4 Oil paintings on canvas in GAS container.
Medium:
Dimensions:
Painting
Genre:
IAAA Art Style:
cosmic expressionism
Launch vehicle / mission:
Space Shuttle Columbia - STS-61-C
Host spacecraft / hardware:
Space Shuttle Columbia
COSPAR id
1986-003A
Launch location:
Kennedy Space Center
Launch date:
12 Jan 1986
Orbit / space location:
LEO
Return vehicle:
Space Shuttle Columbia
End date:
18 January 1965
Status:
Returned
Client / Agency:
NASA
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