Preview
Preferred Title
Overview
Description
Artist statement:
In May 2020, I drafted a poem inspired by the Overview Effect: a term coined by space philosopher Frank White to describe “A cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts and cosmonauts during spaceflight [..] the experience of seeing firsthand the reality that the Earth is in space, a tiny, fragile ball of life, ‘hanging in the void.” At the time I imagined myself in the place of those astronauts, wondering how it would feel to experience such a life-altering phenomenon. However, after a certainly life-altering two years on Earth. I wanted to complete and recreate this poem through a different lens. The focus of this work is the aftermath of the Overview Effect rather than the feeling itself. After such a life-altering experience, how does one move on? How does it change the way you move through life on Earth? Mimicking the colors of space, this work has a grayscale interior with a deep blue and silver cover. However, I certainly didn’t want my book to be cliché in its use of celestial imagery. I spent a long time thinking about visual elements which could distinguish my piece from others about space travel. The result is a series of images from life on Earth, all from the perspective of looking upwards: a chapel steeple, a lamppost, an airplane, tree branches. These images convey not only the perspective of returned astronaut looking back up toward the Heavens, but also the sense that the Overview Effect is also something we experience here on Earth – after anything happens, big or small. The only image which breaks this theme, other than the Earth on the cover, lies on the final page – a zoomed-out view of that same Earth image, centered in the page. This is intended to, in its final moment, broaden the scope of the work and return the reader to its source of inspiration. I initially intended to create my imagery using photopolymer prints on the Vandercook press. However, due to a limited budget, I changed tactics to solvent transfers. Though not originally planned, the faded and imperfect nature of the transfers reflects the haze and dissociation that might occur after a significant life event.
Type
Image
Location
John C. Hitt Library
Department
Special Collections & University Archives
Recommended Citation
Ingrassia, Taylor, "Overview" (2022). 17th Annual Student Book Arts Competition. 3.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/bookartsexhibit-17thannual/3