New zer G program in Russia's Star City

The Arts Catalyst's MIR campaign 2003 launches with EU support.

The Arts Catalyst, the UK's science-art agency, has received European Union funding for their 3rd zero-gravity campaign taking place at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Moscow, April 7-12 2003.

Part of the Culture 2000 programme, this is the first space-art initiative to receive this type of funding and it recognises the contribution that their previous flights have made in furthering artistic, scientific and public knowledge about space.

Collectively known as MIR (Microgravity Interdisciplinary Research), The Arts Catalyst and partners V-2 in the Netherlands, Leonardo/Olats in France, Projekt Atol in Slovenia and the Multimedia Complex of Actual Arts in Moscow, have selected 7 European artists and scientists to carry out research on the flights. They are:

Marcel. Li Antunez Roca. (Spain)
A leading European performance artist and former member of La Fura Dels Baus who will carry out a series of zero gravity performances with a mechanical 'exoskeleton', robots and a series of computers.

Stephan Gec (UK)
A ground-based project, Gec will be building an aluminium globe and installing it in the centrifuge, so it is slowly exposed to a significant G-load.

Vadim Fishkin (Slovenia)
Fishkin is developing a 'Kapelgraf', which will translate flight data into drops of water.

Kodwo Eshun, Richard Cousins, Anjalika Sagar (UK)
A Sci-Fi film project exploring Indian Modernism and Afro-futurism

Yuri Liederman (Russia)
Liederman will be filming the behaviour of colonies of bacteria, 'kefir grains', in zero gravity with the aim of producing an animation film.

Rebecca Forth (UK)
Forth is a scientist at University College Hospital, performing research into the respiratory system. During the flights she will be working with a clarinet player.

Ewen Chardronnet (France)
Chardonnet will document and co-ordinate online aspects of the residencies including a special celebration of Yuri's Night from the Cosmonaut Club in Star City on April 12, anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight.

The ICA, London will host presentation of the projects in September 2003, followed by a national tour.

Set up in March 2001, MIR's earlier zero-gravity flights have pointed to the potential for a new genre of art, using the state of zero gravity to explore the body and movement, kinetic sculpture, myths and ideas about flying and cultural stereotypes of space exploration and the astronaut.

The MIR initiative sets out to give a new impulse to space art and space research by opening up space facilities and matching artistic processes with scientific research. The Zero-Gravity flights are an exciting and integral part of this process.

For further information contact Miranda Pope at [email protected]

The Arts Catalyst
The science-art agency
www.artscatalyst.org