Against Outer Space Critiques Colonial Fantasies at Beall Center
At UC Irvine, the Beall Center for Art + Technology is currently presenting a group show called 'Against Outer Space.' This exhibition challenges the colonial view of outer space as just a resource-rich wasteland. It features artists like Alice Wang, Marcus Zúñiga, and Sarah Rosalena, who incorporate earthly materials like mica, gourds, and charcoal into their work, revealing ancestral narratives. Zúñiga’s 'photosphere' (2025) reflects light through mica, inspired by Mesoamerican design. Rosalena’s 'CMB RBG' (2021) turns Cosmic Microwave Background data into intricate beadwork on gourd bowls, while Wang’s 'Untitled' (2024) consists of charcoal-coated clay pillars that engage with ideas of time and our relationship with non-living materials.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Against Outer Space' at Beall Center for Art + Technology, UC Irvine.
- Features Marcus Zúñiga, Sarah Rosalena, and Alice Wang.
- Zúñiga's 'photosphere' (2025) uses mica to create kaleidoscopic light, referencing Mesoamerican structures.
- Rosalena's 'CMB RBG' (2021) uses glass beads on gourds to map the Cosmic Microwave Background.
- Wang's 'Untitled' (2024) consists of five charcoal-coated clay pillars that absorb light.
- The exhibition critiques colonial narratives of outer space as a frontier for extraction.
- Materials include mica, gourds, pine sap, beeswax, charcoal, and clay.
- Works emphasize ancestral knowledge and material agency.
Entities
Artists
- Marcus Zúñiga
- Sarah Rosalena
- Alice Wang
Institutions
- Beall Center for Art + Technology
- UC Irvine
- Carla
Locations
- Irvine
- United States