Brower Propulsion Laboratory: BPL-003, Moranic Mission To Montana

Brower Propulsion Laboratory: BPL-003, Moranic Mission To Montana
January 22 – March 21,  2010

The Esther Klein Gallery is proud to announce its newest exhibit, Brower Propulsion Laboratory: BPL-003, Moranic Mission To Montana. A series of documents, artifacts, and spacecraft will be on view at EKG from January 22nd through March 21^st, 2010, with an opening reception on Friday, January 22nd from 5pm to 9pm at the Gallery at 3600 Market Street.

*Across the street at the same time, Breadboard’s program partner NextFab Studio, a membership-based technology workshop and prototyping center is hosting an opening reception at its new facility at 3711 Market Street.

About the Exhibition:

In the 1870′s the United States hadn’t yet acquired its idea of “The West.” Government surveys generated reports of fantastic discoveries, making for compelling reading in magazines like Scribner’s. Thomas Moran, a Philadelphia artist, was tasked with illustrating an article about the ‘Yellowstone’ region. Ultimately his aesthetic decisions captured the nation’s attention and helped inspire the  creation the National Park System, the expansion of the railroads westward, and the ‘development’ of the American West.

One hundred years later, space exploration was thought to be a continuation of this model of discovery and conquest. While representing the most advanced technology humans can produce, the further extension of people into space seems an increasingly lackluster prospect. Space missions are often carried out by remote control, reducing at once both risk and interest.

The Brower Propulsion Laboratory has developed an exploratory mission based on these two quintessentially American historical phenomena. For its third full-scale mission, three spacecraft will be launched (a lander, a rover, and an airborne ‘nanosatellite’) near Livingston, Montana in 2010.

BPL has painstakingly crafted several technical apparatus that will be used to revisit the sites originally depicted by Thomas Moran. In an attempt to see this much observed region with fresh eyes, as Moran may have done 140 years ago, the vernacular of the exploration of another planet will be applied to sites deeply embedded in the American self-image. Data will be collected and analyzed and experiments conducted.  The potential for “life” in this region will be assessed, in its varied and complicated contexts. Details of the mission will be posted at browerpropulsionlab.com, where visitors will be able to interact with spacecraft systems. Several demonstrations and workshops are scheduled to take place over the course of the exhibition.

About BPL:
Brower Propulsion Laboratory is a quasi-fictitious aerospace company created by Steven Brower around 2007. Brower’s artwork is characterized by a broad diversity of media and makes extensive use of scientific research. Brower has used NASA projects as a basis for his own fictionalized versions of hand-rendered spacecraft, space suits, robots, pocket protectors, and even BPL’s corporate structure. The resulting works are a hybrid of American ingenuity and irreverent criticality. For more information, visit stevenbrower.com

About the EKG Project Space, Breadboard and NextFab

The Esther Klein Gallery (EKG) is expanding under a new program called Breadboard. Breadboard is a hybrid program that explores intersections between contemporary art, design, science and technology. Expanding on 30-plus years of Esther Klein Gallery programming, Breadboard’s mission is to convene communities around creative applications of technology. Breadboard manages two venues located at the University City Science Center: the Esther Klein Gallery (EKG) at 3600 Market Street in Philadelphia and the Breadboard Community Space at 3711 Market Street. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm. For more information and exhibit updates, visit breadboardphilly.org.

EKG will continue in its mission of putting forth challenging exhibits that explore the intersection of art, science and technology at its 3600 Market Street gallery. Current EKG staff will transition to become the new Breadboard administrative team as EKG operations are coordinated with expanded Breadboard resources and programming objectives.

NextFab Studio operates in partnership with the Science Center’s nonprofit Breadboard program to bring the arts and technology educational and innovation opportunities to the broader community.  NextFab Studio is a membership-based technology workshop and prototyping center.  The new 3,600-square-foot facility provides comfortable, clean, and safe workspaces with hand tools, 3D printers, computer controlled machine tools, software, and electronics workbenches. Expert instructors and a diverse community of collaborators are on hand to help inventors and innovators problem-solve and achieve their vision. NextFab Studio is located at 3711 Market Street in the University City Science Center on Philadelphia’s Avenue of Technology. For more information, visit www.nextfabstudio.com.