Publication No.1, 2019
/// Inner Telescope, a space work by Eduardo Kac
Documentary film directed by Virgile Novarina
Produced by Observatoire de l’Espace du CNES
Artist’s book made by Atelier Marie-Sol Parant
Production of the book and introduction of the project in Iran: Paadmaan projects.
With support of French Embassy in Tehran
Curator: Foad Alijani
Translator (French): Babak Ershadi
Publication information: Tehran, Paadmaan projects, 2019
Number of pages: 64
Graphic design and printing: Royanegaran Design Studio
2nd edition: Winter 2021
Thanks to Joris Bossard, communications manager of the film.
The articles published in this book have been given to
Paademaan projects by Eduardo Kac’s studio.
………
Table of contents
– Introduction / Foad Alijani
– Inner Telescope (A poem by Eduardo Kac designed for weightlessness and made in space) / Eduardo Kac
– Why a poem in space? / Hugues Marchal
– What space between creation and its documentation? / Golnaz Behrouznia
– Interview with Eduardo Kac / Golnaz Behrouznia
– Report of an interview with Marie-Sol Parant about her contribution to the Inner Telescope project by Eduardo Kac / Amin Shojaei
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, nor front or 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.
The astronaut’s mission is entitled “Proxima” and is coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA). Kac’s project is coordinated by the L’Observatoire de l’Espace, the cultural lab of the French Space Agency. >>
