The Spacecraft Agency was launched in June 2020 by Luke Idziak and Arno Geens, later joined by Lois Rosson. The agency is a pluridisciplinary design agency dedicated to the arts and crafts of the creation and curation of art in outer space to actively engage the arts in space exploration. Their moto: "Because spacecraft deserve some love, too...".
Luke and Arno met in 2012 during their MSc. in Space Studies program at the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France where they shared a mutual interest in space art, extraterrestrial culture, design practises and deep conversations. After their studies they got both introduced to different aspects of creative practises at different NASA centers.
In 2020 the duo joined forces again to develop an artistic intervention on NASA's first "PACE"-satellite. Not content with a single-artist approach, they decided to open up the creative process and invite other artists to join in on the effort, effectively turning the project into one of the few actively curated group art exhibitions in space.
Their first orbital group art exhibition "PACE-1" was launched one year later, on june 30 2021 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and is currently active in a low earth orbit. The initiative was well received in the space-scene, prompting the duo to establish themselves as curators of astronautical art and being joined by Lois Rosson, an artist and researcher with an interest in the pictorial representations of space objects.
The trios' next orbital group art exhibition is currently being integrated, and is slated to launch in the beginning of 2023.
The Spacecraft Agency was launched in June 2020 by Luke Idziak and Arno Geens, later joined by Lois Rosson. The agency is a pluridisciplinary design agency dedicated to the arts and crafts of the creation and curation of art in outer space to actively engage the arts in space exploration. Their moto: "Because every spacecraft deserves some love, too".
Luke and Arno met in 2012 during their MSc. in Space Studies program at the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France where they shared a mutual interest in space art, extraterrestrial culture, design practises and deep conversations. After their studies they got both introduced to different aspects of creative practises at different NASA centers.
In 2020 the duo joined forces again to develop an artistic intervention on NASA's first "PACE"-satellite. Not content with a single-artist approach, they decided to open up the creative process and invite other artists to join in on the effort, effectively turning the project into one of the few actively curated group art exhibitions in space.
Their first orbital group art exhibition "PACE-1" was launched one year later, on june 30 2021 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and is currently active in a low earth orbit. The initiative was well received in the space-scene, prompting the duo to establish themselves as curators of astronautical art and being joined by Lois Rosson, an artist and researcher with an interest in the pictorial representations of space objects.
The trios' next orbital group art exhibition is currently being integrated, and is slated to launch in the beginning of 2023.
Rationale:
“Every spacecraft is a custom-built creation, with countless hours of effort distilled into it.
By including artists in the development process, we have an opportunity to make new spacecraft not only functional, but beautiful and engaging to a wide audience as well.”
Luke Idziak, curator.
Luke A. Idziak
Curator, artist - The Spacecraft Agency.
Spacecraft Systems Designer - NASA Ames Research Center.
Luke is an historic preservationist and spacecraft systems designer at NASA Ames Research Center.
He is the co-founder and curator of the Spacecraft Agency and co-founder of the San Fransisco Botanical Research Institute.
He holds an MSc. in Space Studies from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, A BA in historic preservation from the University of Mary, Washington, and studied Polish Language and History at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.
Arno F.G. Geens
Curator, designer - The Spacecraft Agency.
Creative Thinker.
Arno is a designer, researcher and educator. He was a visiting researcher and visual strategist at NASA JPL's 'The Studio'.
He is currently a Fellow of the School of Thinking at CLEA Center for Transdisciplinary Research at the Free University of Brussels, and co-founder of The Spacecraft Agency.
In the past he was program director, lecturer and researcher at Erasmus Brussels University of Applied Sciences and Arts where he lectured on concept design and new media technologies. He also ran a communication agency, an art gallery and an innovation studio.
Arno holds a MA in Graphic Design from LUCA School of Arts, Brussels, a MSc. in Space Studies from the International Space University in Strasbourg, and a PgD in philosophy and cognitive science from the Free University of Brussels. He is a US Dept. of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumnus and former licensed paramedic.
Lois Rosson
Artist - The Spacecraft Agency.
Historian. Fellow, Berggruen Institute .
Lois received her Ph.D. from the History Department at U.C. Berkeley in 2022, where she specialized in the History of Science. Her undergraduate training is in fine art, after which she gained experience as a graphic designer at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Ever since she has an ongoing interest in pictorial representations of space subjects and the visual culture of scientific institutions. She has been a Guggenheim Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, a research associate at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and holds the 2023 – 2024 Octavia E. Butler Fellowship at the Huntington Library. Currently she is completing her first book manuscript, which examines the impact of midcentury astronomical illustration on perceptions of space landscapes in both the popular and scientific imaginaries.