Fluid Expressions
Research Lead / Product Design / Fabrication (2020 - Present)
Life on earth provides us with experience and intuition about how fluids will behave, and what they can be used for. Similarly, we have some intuition for what constitutes liquid-based art, as well as brushes, paints, and canvases. These intuitions can be productively challenged when considering liquid-based art in space. How does the unique environment of space and microgravity change the way we approach the tools and craft of painting? How can the experience of working with liquid media be re-envisioned, and novel ideas can be captured?
Fluid Expressions a dual research- and art-focused project exploring how the unique properties of fluids in microgravity can be used to create novel artistic tools and media. By presenting the tools and media through which to create art in space, it invites the viewer to imagine what they would create in space — to represent both home and their new frontier.
Research Goals
Inspired by Nicole Stott, Richard Garriott, Don Pettit, and other spacefaring humans who have created art in space, Fluid Expressions aims to develop a novel set of instruments for manipulating liquid-based media in space, akin to a “traveler’s painting kit for microgravity.” The project’s research goals are twofold — to explore how the unique properties of fluids in microgravity can inspire novel artistic media, and to incorporate human-centered design into an object specifically meant for space.
Design & Craft
After passing through several design iterations, the first fully functional prototype of Fluid Expressions is a cylindrical acrylic messenger tube that allows for 3D deposition of paint on a curved surface. The container is designed to be both engineered for deployment on a Zero-G parabolic flight, while still being as hand-crafted as possible. Wood, brass, and hand-sewn leather are incorporated into the object as a means of tying it materially back to Earth.
Zero-G Flights + Exhibition Work
Fluid Expressions has been tested in microgravity environments during two Zero-G parabolic flight, made possible through the MIT Space Exploration Initiative. The memory capsules, videos, and accompanying artworks have been displayed at the Kirkland Gallery, Beyond the Cradle, and at San Diego Comic Con 2023.
A solo exhibition showcasing Fluid Expressions through the lens of speculative fiction is hosted by the Harvard GSD Kirkland Gallery. The speculative fiction can be found at https://fluid-expressions.glitch.me/.