Abstract:

The purpose of this document is to explore, establish, and develop the possible application of a large scale temporary installation in the earth’s orbit.

Concept:

Ideally in order to make that something which questions the materiality and the metaphysics of humanity, that thing need deny its own materiality. As humans, we are constantly defining and describing the object world with information that is filtered through our inherited programmed presets. These presets function as context parameters that then put forth certain finite limits on the number of hybrids or permutations that can be created from our perceptual analysis. It follows then that our culture is dependent on the materiality of objects in that the very identity of an object is its materiality. The materiality of the object provides a contextual relationship for understanding the sociological identity of the object be it living or dead. The further temporalization of the identity of the object leads to further contextualization in contemporary culture. How then would it be possible to create an object that did not have an identity, or materiality, or temporality or any sort of encoded context of understanding? Such an object would in many ways not exist as it would be indescribable in contemporary lexicon. As a potential experiment, an experiential situation completely removed from a popular contextualization with a minimum of predetermined perception is proposed.

Going forward, if an object is to be removed from a familiar context; if its materiality is to be transformed; and human perspective, both objective and subjective, is to be genuinely shifted, especially given egalitarian concerns; then for such an object to be realized, said parameters begin to point towards certain specific contextual opportunities. Any sort of earth based situation, be it in the landscape, urban, natural or otherwise would provide too much of a pre-existing context of understanding, and given the project parameters, would be unacceptable. Thus, the nearest alternative in the interests of this project would be an installation in outer space ; an installation in space would at least along idealistic conceptualizations offer such a context for creating an object free of materiality . In space, objectification takes on one of removal and distance that would allow for materiality to be questioned in a way amenable to the project; the scale involved to achieve such a project would shift the levels of human perception beyond that of the individual and into the realm of the global.

Read the full proposal at http://johnkmelvin.com/ONO_About.html