Cosmic Arclight 寰宇弧光
seeking for rocket debris, image credit: Long pan
If the sedimentary layers represent the silent chronicle of "deep time" recording geological events and the history of species—a chronicle under our feet—then the sky above us, despite sharing the Earth's long history, seems more ephemeral, ever-changing, and vast. It represents another kind of temporal structure based on cycles, rotations, and orbital movements rather than linear deposition. Between the surface and the edge of Earth's orbit lies the sky, described by John Durham Peters as a 'medium,' filled with the invisible footprints of radio waves and satellite signals, occasionally witnessing the arc of a rocket's ascent. This sky is also referred to by Lisa Parks as a "vertical public space," symbolising the openness of the human condition and requiring analysis with environmental specificity: the sky is not a chaotic, homogeneous, and undifferentiated medium but an environment constantly edited and altered by specific perspectives and technologies, a new scientific object and economic issue. The aerospace industry, connecting the surface with orbital space, is a crucial part of this technological weaving of the sky.
How can we understand this dynamic vertical space, a place few have phenomenologically experienced, without oversimplification (such as summarising space sustainability with indices and measures)? Whether it’s the acceleration, noise, and vibration felt by astronauts during ascent or the 90-minute cycle of sunrise and sunset in a space station, the world above relies on the analysis and development of a series of complex engineering and technologies. It is also rich with imagination—an imagination that is not merely poetic projection but concerns how to form perspectives and awareness for viewing, participating in, and positioning this vertical public space. The technological intervention and social research of the sky are intertwined, connecting numerous potential issues: the transformation of the Earth-sky relationship, the development of aerospace, the techno-politics of vertical space, space sustainability, space as a symbol of resource and opportunity reserve and risk, the influence of microgravity and vacuum environments on metallurgy, crystals, materials, and spectroscopy, and considerations on the technological routes of space exploration.
Initiated jointly by the Biyun Art Museum in Pudong, LandSpace, and independent curator Iris Long, the project "Cosmic Arclight" treats research and artwork commissioning as a starting point. It attempts to respond to the "specificity of the sky medium" and the human living environment in the new space age through curatorial practice and interdisciplinary methods. The project will invite artists, designers, science fiction writers, and writers to consider scenarios of rocket recovery technology and recycling, to reflect on an organic expansion of Earthly life rather than an invasive expansion, considering the sustainability of the sky time.
inside of a rocket debris, image credit: Huizhen Zhong
如果说，沉积的地层意味着 「深度时间」对地质事件和物种历史的无声刻录，是一部脚底的地球编年史，头顶的天空——虽然亦伴随地球同样长的时间——则似乎更轻盈、瞬息万变、广袤无垠，是基于循环、轮转、轨道运动而非线性沉积的另一种时间。在地表与地球轨道的边缘之间，是John Durham Peters笔下成为了「媒介」的天空，遍布着无线电波和卫星信号的无形足迹，亦不时见证着火箭上升的弧光，这里也是Lisa Parks笔下的「垂直公共空间」（vertical public space）, 象征着人类境况的敞开，也是一个需要以环境具体性来加以分析的对象：天空并不是混沌、均质、无差别的媒介，而是不断被具体的视角和技术所编辑和改变的环境，一个新的科学对象和经济议题。连接着地表与轨道空间的宇航工业，也是对天空的技术编织的重要一环。
我们如何以不过度简化（比如用指数和度量来概括空间可持续性）的方式，来认识这个动态的垂直空间，这个极少有人有过具体现象学经验的地方？无论是航天员在升空时感受的加速度、噪音和振动，还是空间站里九十分钟一次循环的日升日落，空中的世界既依赖于一系列复杂工程和技术的解析和展开，也仍然饱含着想象——这种想象不仅仅是诗意投射，也是关于如何形成看待、参与、定位、这个垂直公共空间的视角和意识，去思考一种结合技术和文化视角的方法，并在此基础上重思我们的生存环境。对天空的技术介入和社会研究是伴生的，后者能关联起诸多潜在的议题：地空关系的转变，航天航空化发展，垂直空间的技术政治，空间可持续，太空作为资源和机遇储备的象征和风险，微重力及真空环境对冶金、晶体、材料、光谱等各学科的促动，以及对宇航技术路线的思考。
作为由浦东碧云美术馆、蓝箭航天和独立策展人龙星如联合发起的项目，「寰宇弧光」以研究和委任创作为出发点，试图通过策展型的实践导向和跨学科方法，回应这种「天空媒介的具体性」和新太空时代的人类生存环境，探索围绕它的经济、文化、伦理和人文价值。项目将邀请艺术家、设计师、科幻作家、写作者，结合火箭可回收技术场景与循环利用，共同从人本的视角思考一种有机扩展而非侵略式扩张的地球生活，思考这种生活的可持续性和技术向善的未来。
a rocket debris, image credit: Huizhen Zhong
seeking for rocket debris, image credit: Iris Long