Eureka

Academic summary

Eureka relates literary, scientific, and historical narratives from the 19 century to contemporary issues about stratospheric space, specifically, the use and development of stratospheric balloons. My research utilizes moving image, drawing, and writing to explore the rise of stratospheric balloons in scientific research, military surveillance, and tourism.

My prior projects explored connections between subterranean landscapes, analog materials, and literary and political histories of the United States. In the current project I further develop research on how narratives of the stratosphere seem to parallel the ways subterranean spaces have been described, approached, and mined.  

Much like the commercial rockets being used to bring billionaires to space for momentary thrills, stratospheric balloon tourism is a new way for wealthy people to partake in unique experiences. Stratospheric balloons are also used for domestic and international espionage and for deeply engaged scientific studies about climate change and the weather.  

The artistic research in Eureka investigates scientific labor together with its implication in social, artistic, and political movements in the past and present. The work I do seeks to unpack the contradictions and, in so doing, open a space for interdisciplinary creative exploration.