The PLEX NOIR artists collective in Germany has created an installation piece titled Debris, which is currently on exhibit at the Kunsthaus Troisdorf in Germany.
Debris is an installation to illustrate the emergence of space debris through decades of space exploration and commercial space use. The installation utilizes a laser to continuously visualize man-made objects orbiting the earth. The orbits of this debris are analysed and then exposed onto two thick paper sheets as a 2D projection of the northern and southern hemispheres.
From the press release:
DEBRIS – a thoughtful piece of laser art to celebrate Sputnik’s anniversary.
German based artist collective PLEX NOIR celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first satellite to reach earth orbit by picturing remains of space missions via ›laser engravings‹.
DEBRIS is an installation to illustrate the emergence of space debris through decades of space exploration and commercial space use.
The installation utilizes a laser to continuously visualize man-made objects orbiting the earth. The orbits of these debris are analyzed and exposed onto cardboard as a 2D projection.
On October 4th, 1957, Sputnik was the first man-made satellite to be launched into orbit. Since then, the empty space of our universe has become a dangerous place for manned space travel in the immediate vicinity of Earth. Almost all space flights leave parts behind, in different orbits and speed. The majority of them fall back to earth within short time to burn up in the atmosphere. However, especially faster parts remain in orbit for many decades. Scientists warn against cascading effects that will become more likely with each additional object and each collision between these objects.
DEBRIS manifests all catalogued pieces of debris in chronological order as tiny, burned-in marks on cardboard. The cardboard is exchanged when the visualisation of one decade of space debris is completed.
DEBRIS is currently on display at Kunsthaus Troisdorf, Germany. Over the course of the exhibition the laser continuously engraves space debris for each decade since the 1960s.
