Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: “It should be noted that it is very unlikely that an artist would have the opportunity themselves to go to the International Space Station, certainly in the foreseeable future.”
Damn. Okay, that said, though, Arts Electric reports the European Space Agency is looking at ways of using the ISS for artistic purposes, contracting an arts consortium that includes the very cool science-and-arts group Arts Catalyst and Leonardo (the MIT journal, not di Caprio.)
So, if you can’t go perform on ISS, what can you do? First, you need to be in Europe. (Damn again.) Second, you can use the “features” of ISS and ground facilities: “Artists and cultural practitioners across Europe are being consulted on the features of the International Space Station and its ground-based support facilities – including launch sites, astronaut training facilities and national user support centres – that would be of interest to them.”
Excellent. I’m seeing new interactive digital opera at the astronaut training facility, which has a giant water tank for simulating zero-G activities. Any takers?
For more on digital music and sound in space: see our space sound roundup, including info on Voyager 1 sound sampling.