Greetings
Did you catch the total solar eclipse? If you were in the path of totality, you've experienced a unique (if brief) connection to the cosmos. These few minutes offer more than just a scientific phenomenon; they provide a profound aesthetic experience that transcends intellectual understanding. It's the emotional impact of this otherworldly beauty that compels people (like me) to chase eclipses worldwide. Our Artists-in-Residence (AIRs) grasp this entanglement of science, aesthetics, and nature, creating projects that connect to the senses as well as intellectual curiosity. In this month's issue of SETI AIR news, you'll find captivating images of an "alien message" from Daniela de Paulis, a link to Xin Liu ’s reflections on space travel, and Jonathon Keats ’ exploration of the nature of time. Enjoy the read!
Wishing you clear skies,
Bettina
Artist Spotlight
Daniela de Paulis
A Sign in Space - Update
On May 24, 2023, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter sent a simulated alien message back to Earth. It was the launch of Daniela de Paulis’ project A Sign in Space, which invites the public to explore the process of decoding and interpreting an extraterrestrial message. Since that time, hundreds of enthusiasts from all over the world have actively participated in the effort to decode and interpret the message. The A Sign in Space Discord channel is humming with ideas, prototypes, and discussions. While the decoding process continues, Daniela is forging ahead with iterations and reflections of the project.
The Galileo Galilei Institute for Particle Physics in Arcetri, Italy, (https://www.ggi.infn.it/) is host-ing a solo exhibition featuring A Sign in Space, as well as artworks that she created in collabo-ration with radio operators and neuroscientists. Part of the exhibition will be an interpretation by A Sign in Space Discord contributor Mauro, who imagined the message as a Braille map. Daniela also collaborating with two PhD students at the Galileo Galilei Institute who will transmit the message from two distant locations between Arcetri and Florence using quantum cryptography.
If you would like to keep track of the decoding process of A Sign in Space, check out the A Sign in Space website, where Daniela is posting regular updates, and join the A Sign in Space Discord channel.
SETI AIR Artist News & Events
Daniela de Paulis
Life as a Cosmic Phenomenon (in Science, Anthropology, Theology, Law, Ethics and Art)
Panel at the KAVLI-IAU Symposium
Durham, UK
April 14 - 19, 2024
Xin Liu
Xin Liu, Gravity is the Momentum of Feelings
Artist talk, Rice University, Chao Centre for Asian Studies (video)
Xin Liu
Adrian Cheng’s K11 Art Foundation Awards Inaugural Artist Prize to Xin Liu
Article by Daniel Cassady in ARTnews
SETI AIR
Earth at the Crossroads conference
Panel: SETI AIR: Communicating through Arts
With Bettina Forget (host), Daedelus, Jonathon Keats, and Felipe Perez Santiago
Exhibition: Art at the Crossroads
Artworks by Daniela de Paulis, Bettina Forget, Jonathon Keats, Scott Kildall, Charles Lindsay, and Xin Liu,
Georgetown University, Washington DC
April 17 - 19, 2024
Jen Bervin
Smith College Special Collections Workshop: Archive Sonnets
Smith College Special Collections
Northampton, Massachusetts
April 11, 2024
