outer space (2011-ongoing)
Space exploration has received renewed attention in recent years, partly through the emergence of commercial space travel. It demonstrates our innate curiosity and our desire to push the boundaries. Leaving the earth also deepens our understanding of it: who are we, where do we come from, what do we leave behind for future generations? Michael Najjar visited space ports and laboratories and met with numerous scientists and astronauts for a series that blends documentary and fictional scenarios about space exploration. His personal approach is extraordinary: Najjar booked a space flight at Virgin Galactic, in SpaceShipTwo. He’ll be the first artist in space, and is currently following an intensive training programme at space centres in Germany, Russia and the United States. From flying in a MiG-29 fighter jet in the stratosphere and zero-gravity flights to training sessions in a centrifuge, underwater space walks in a heavy space suit and a parachute jump from a height of ten thousand metres – with his camera Najjar captures the extremes he is subjected to in order to research and exemplify his own physical and mental responses.
Exhibition works courtesy the artist
