The following excerpts
are from the IAAA Manifesto.
In the 1800s, artists
accompanied explorers into the frontiers of the Americas and
sent back colorful
images
of
the new lands. Paintings from Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt
spurred further exploration of the West, and helped to preserve
Yellowstone, Yosemite, and other areas as national parks. In
1872, Frederick Church, the highest paid painter of his day,
financed
his own expeditions to paint polar aurorae, icebergs in the Arctic
Sea, and volcanoes in South America. But soon, the Earth's frontier
lands disappeared and the link between art and exploration broke
down.
Today, we receive images from a new frontier
that is rapidly expanding, planet to planet, into space. A new
link is being forged by a new
generation of exploration artists—Space Artists. Armed
with science, creativity and imagination, they construct realistic
images
of visions throughout the Universe, from our Earth to the Stars.
Not only realist; surrealist and impressionist styles are equally
valuable in this adventurous and innovative field.
Space art serves the most basic function of fine art, that of
inspiration. It directs our focus toward the space frontier, where
human destiny inevitably lies. We are in the midst of a human adventure
that will be remembered when the international squabbles of our
century are long forgotten. We are stepping off ancestral earth
and learning what wonders and resources are scattered throughout
the starlit blackness of space. It is an adventure for artists,
scientists and all mankind.
The IAAA was founded in 1982 by a small group of artists who journeyed
through the fascinating but seldom trod territory where science
and art overlap.
From these pioneering astronomical artists (unlike
their colleagues in science fiction and fantasy, with whom they
are sometimes confused
by the uninitiated), a firm foundation of knowledge and research
is the basis for each painting. Striving to accurately depict
scenes which are at present beyond the range of human eyes, they
communicate
a binding dream of adventure and exploration as they focus
on the final frontier—space.
Their work has also grown, to incorporate
a number of styles and viewpoints. At times the art may step
outside the bounds of scientific rendering, to address the broader
implications
that space poses for humanity. However, no matter which form
of expression the artist chooses to take, the common inspirations
held by all are astronomy and space exploration.
In addition to painting skills, the diverse allies of an astronomical
artist include personal computers, NASA photographs, field geologists,
space scientists, astronomers, astrophysicists, science writers,
and travel agents... (of course, some artists may also hold positions
as any of the above). They may find themselves in a training simulator
at Johnson Space Center, exploring an active volcanic crater, such
as in Iceland or Hawaii, studying the erosion patterns in Utah's
Canyonlands, or talking to an Apollo astronaut about subtleties
of color in lunar shadows. Workshops are held, at which knowledge
and techniques are shared, friendships among many nationalities
are forged, at the same time as new landscapes are explored for
future use (literally).
From this fertile background of research and imagination comes
the body of artwork known generally as the genre of SPACE ART.
The object of the IAAA, as a non-profit foundation, is to implement
and participate in astronomical and space art projects, to promote
education about astronomical art and to foster international cooperation
in artistic work inspired by the exploration of the Universe.
