These works deal with the problematic, and often ignored relationship between the Space Race and Southern identity. It consists of a series of wall-mounted sculptures which depict, using a simple, graphic form, a spaceship approaching a planet. The objects used to represent the rocket and the planet are bullets from the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The intention of this series is to create a minimalist, yet controversial juxtaposition which puts the spotlight on the problematics of spatial domination, not just of outer space but more importantly of our own planet and its inhabitants. Through repetition and homogeneity, it is intended to draw upon cinematic form in addition to its poignant, direct relationship to the Civil War.
It begins with the infamous and iconic Minie Ball, known to be the most devastating bullet of all time, which was first used in the Civil War. The Minie Ball inspired Jules Verne’s rocket in De la Terre a la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon) just after the Civil War. In his novel it was the Southern Gun Club in post-Civil War America to build and launch the rocket – in fact, Verne’s fictional rocket was launched very near Cape Canaveral. In 1902, the Minie Ball was further established as the iconic form of space travel in Georg Melies’ film Voyage a la Lune (1902), and later, Fritz Lang’s four hour long epic, Frau im Mond (1929).
During the Space Race, the initiative to go to the Moon was principally a tool for repairing the chasm between the North and the South, as well as a means of asserting control over the rest of the world – namely the USSR. Space exploration in the US was subsequently conducted in the South, yet its intentions with regards to unification actually resulted in the intense mutation and perpetuation of racial tensions and social inequality. Considered in its entirety, the Space Race was a means to spatially dominate the Earth itself. Using this juxtaposition, I hope to highlight and problematize the pursuit of spatial domination and dig to the core of colonial attitudes and historical amnesia which continue to pervade contemporary politics and society today.
