News
NASA's art exhibit on display at Tech Center
Scott Wagar
04/24/2012
In celebration of the 42nd annual Earth day celebrations, Dakota College at Bottineau, in association with U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Geological Survey Department, will be presenting the exhibit, “Earth as Art,” which can be viewed all this week in downtown Bottineau at the Tech Center.
The “Earth as Art” exhibit is a colorful display of Earth’s images, which were obtained through NASA’s landsat satellite systems.
“For most of us, deserts, mountains, river valleys, coastlines and even dry lake beds are relatively familiar features of the earth’s terrestrial environment. For earth scientists, they are the focus of considerable scientific research. Viewed from a unique and unconventional perspective, earth’s geographic attributes can also be a surprising source of awe-inspiring art,” stated the U.S. Department of Interior for its “Earth as Art” display. “That unique perspective is space. The artists for the “Earth as Art” exhibit are the landsat 5 and landsat 7 satellites, which orbit approximately 438 miles above the earth’s surface. While studying the images these satellites beam down daily, researchers are often struck by the sheer beauty of the scenes. Such images inspire the imagination and go beyond scientific value to remind us how stunning, intricate and simply amazing our plant’s features can be.
“Instead of paint, the medium for these works of art is light. But landsat satellites sensors don’t see light as human eyes do; instead, they see radiate energy reflected from Earth’s surface in certain wavelengths, or bands, of red, green, blue and inferred light. When these different bands are combined into a single image, remarkable patterns, colors and shapes emerge,” the Department of Interior continued to state. “The “Earth as Art” exhibit provides fresh and inspiring glimpses of different parts of our plant’s complex surface. The images in this collection were chosen solely based on their aesthetic appeal. Many of the images have been manipulated to enhance color variations or details. They are not intended for scientific interpretation, only for your viewing pleasure.”
The exhibit holds 40 images of deserts, volcanoes, glaciers, forests, waves, reefs, islands, lakes, tundra, mountains and many more personas of the earth’s landscape and its atmosphere.
Angie Bartholomay, science instructor, and curator for this exhibit, is pleased to have this modern medium of art being displayed during Earth Day.
“Dakota College at Bottineau is part of the NASA Space Consortium, and because we are part of it we have the opportunity to bring it to our community,” Bartholomay said. “It’s an extraordinary exhibit and I would encourage everybody to take the time to see the exhibit.”
“Earth as Art” will be on display at the Tech Center from April 20 to May 4. Hours for the exhibit will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be two evening showings, which will take place on April 24 and May 3 from 5 to 8 p.m. The display can also be viewed on Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The exhibit is free and open to the general public.