The Human Spaceship – Off Balance

Humanity is witnessing the most astounding change in ‘being-human’ through cutting edge astronomy and space exploration in the 21st century. ‘The Human Spaceship’ project employs visual art processes to examine these plans through the creation of an experimental installation of scale using extreme perspective, geometry, optical illusions and colour manipulation.
Over five years, Helen Schell has presented a series of related exhibitions and developed an observational document which investigates vision and visual perception in altered gravity conditions (as in long-term human spaceflight). During 2020, she has used this information to create an installation that is made up of many component parts employing drawing and painting techniques. In ‘The Human Spaceship – Off Balance’, she uses multiple optical illusions, destabilising the spectator through images depicting visual vibration similar to space conditions, creating a sensation of being ‘off balance’.