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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Memento EPFL//
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Defying Gravity
DTSTART:20210504T110000
DTEND:20210523T180000
DTSTAMP:20260428T004823Z
UID:1a9676248aad3f9059da91514724706a16d316c7e9dfa4381a77fc2c
CATEGORIES:Exhibitions
DESCRIPTION:Space@yourService\, Nicolas Fournier\, Justine Willa\nEPFL's A
 sclepios project invites you to imagine what it would be like to travel t
 o outer-space through a new exhibition in EPFL Pavilions\, Pavilion A\, 
 from May 4-23. \n\nThe name Asclepius refers to the Greek god of medicine
 \, the central figure of the healer holding a serpent in the constellation
  of Ophiuchus vel Serpentarius. In the present imagining\, Asclepios is 
 the name of a project initiated in August 2019 whose aim is to organize a 
 mission simulating a space expedition. It is linked to EPFL’s Space@you
 rService student association\, whose mission is to make space sciences mo
 re accessible to the general public. Asclepios is one of the first initiat
 ives in the world to propose an analog mission to space\, an initiative de
 veloped entirely by students\, for students\, with the help of academic in
 stitutions\, scientists\, as well as industry support. Asclepios has teame
 d up with CDH Culture and EPFL Pavillions to share their experience w
 ith the wider community through an exhibition from May 4th-23rd at EPFL P
 avilions\, in Pavilion A\, called Defying Gravity.\n\n\n \n\n\n\nThe exh
 ibition and the reflection:\nOn two projection walls\, Asclepios presents
  a video and photo series that traces its history and the dynamics that le
 d it to prepare its first mission\, planned for July 2021. Photos and vide
 os immerse visitors in the settings for the mission: the training sessions
  in a frozen lake or the tunnels of its base. It also provokes reflection 
 on the context in which these images were captured. \n\nDefying Gravity o
 ffers a reflection on what is at stake in the first mission to other plane
 ts. It is a matter of imagining and then completing the difficult passage 
 from reality to fiction. Analog astronauts\, by definition\, are not actua
 lly on the moon. And yet\, in practice\, they must convince themselves tha
 t they are\, in other words\, that the environment itself is spatial and t
 hus inhospitable. This exhibition offers this mental and conceptual journe
 y\, as a prelude to a lived experience. \n\nArtistic collaborations:\nFur
 thermore\, Defying gravity is also an opportunity to showcase artistic par
 tnerships the project has been able to forge\, inspiring the painter Nicol
 as Fournier and the student of photography Justine Willa. \n\nDown the ce
 nter of the exhibition\, Nicolas Fournier\, a graduate of l’Ecole Supé
 rieure d’arts visuels (HEAD)\, proposes a captivating oil-on-paper friez
 e that follows the experiences of the Asclepios project closely. For the e
 xhibition\, he created Space Launch System\, a frieze of 910x126 cm which 
 is installed on a central illuminated display box and thus becomes a kind 
 of horizontal launch-ramp for the Asclepios project. Formally\, it is almo
 st monochromatic\, produced with colors prepared from a base of Prussian b
 lue and Van Dyck brown. It symmetrically depicts multiple scenes involving
  space engines\, scientists\, a space center\, meteorites\, an asteroid\, 
 a solar flare\, a volcanic crater\, an aurora australis. Topical elements 
 are also inserted\, with suggestions of the COVID-19 virus\, and of the te
 rrestrial reality such as amber fishermen in the Baltic Sea. Evoking image
 s from science fiction or from film footage\, this gigantic painting is a 
 masterwork that tells the imaginary story of an artistic journey as well a
 s a terrestrial and cosmic mission. \n\nFor her part\, Justine Willa ex
 plores through video and photography the relations that the mission-in-tra
 ining may have with fantasies.\n\nFree admission
LOCATION:EPFLPavilions\, Pavilion A https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==ART%20A0%2
 0100
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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