Return to Tomorrow: How the images from the Hubble Space Telescope inspire us to be better people

           Art fills us with a sense of wonder that few other fields are able to accomplish.  It represents our hopes, fears, and accomplishments—as well as speaking to the transient nature of man; however, this all hangs on the cusp of subject matter.  As I sit and think about this, I glance at the photograph of Simone de Beauvoir by Robert Doisneau that sits on my desk: it is a most stunning and accurate depiction of one of my favorite philosophers.  This photograph inspires me to rise to the occasion, and to think courageously about the world around me.  In a cosmic photograph, we see our planet, our condition for what it truly is, small and banal—of course, this is when we isolate the image of the earth.  By cutting ourselves off from the grandeur and majesty of our surroundings, much is lost in the way of understanding.  Cosmic portraiture is then the sum total of all that art seeks to be—that is, it provides us with a solid view of ourselves that includes flaws and seeks to push us to new heights.

            The Hubble Space Telescope captures images of the cosmos, images of things that were, until now, unseen as we know.  More important the creating aesthetic images of celestial objects, the Hubble creates images that we are able to study.  In this study, we have discovered and revolutionized our understanding of the deep fields of space, as well as our own solar system.  As we uncover answers, we find that we are just now beginning to approach the most important queries and it is in this way that science and art have come to be on the same level.  Art pushes boundaries of perception, while science pushes our limits of understanding.  To reach a full circle of knowledge, we must approach a level of comprehension of our origins.  When we translate this into art, it fuels harmony between our existence and our relationship with science and nature.  After all, the French absurdist Albert Camus said it best when he wrote that happiness is nothing more than harmony between a man and the life he leads.

            What happens when a telescope takes these pictures?  Does it qualify as art? Does this mean that art becomes more mechanical, or that science loses its logical tone?  Neither could be true.  The world of science is important to us only in that it relates to us.  Outside of that, we have no use for it.  The same applies for art.  Only by through the use of expression and perception is art useful.  When it fails to be relevant, it falls in to disuse.  Some would say this is why the layman no longer participates in the world of art, as paintings are not images, but things in-themselves.  The Hubble makes everything relevant once again.  These are images made possible through the engineering of many people.  What we see are things that have always been unknown and unseen, but as we see them we begin to understand them.  Unlike art, however, it is not man-made projection.  It exists without our consent.  It lives and breathes outside of will and it asks only for our eyes, not for our faith.  It is an emotional-less art.

            Astronomer Carl Sagan once said, “We embarked on our journey to the stars with a question first framed in the childhood of our species and in each generation asked anew with undiminished wonder: What are the stars? Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”  Art has historically led us to great discoveries about the human condition, but as we enter a new age of diminished empires and intertwined global concerns, why should the arts too not follow this format?  Seeing the Earth suspended like a mote of dust in a cosmic ocean is enough to belittle the major concerns of economy and politics that rule our day.  Hubble continues a tradition that artists have always set out to accomplish: to question, create, and explore.  Just as medieval artists sought to depict God, or the Dadaists questioned the premise of art, Hubble seeks to uncover the mysteries of our origins and to question the basis for our condition on this planet.  Do we, as earth’s citizens, have the courage to shed our self-imposed limitations for boundless discovery?