I am interested
in making work at this date for several reasons; the uniqueness of the first
person to step outside the world, the sense in which he seemed to belong to
everyone, the strangeness of looking at the dawn of the space age from a year
which in itself has symbolised the future for the entire (post)modern era. The
consequences for his own life, of stepping out of the re-entry capsule on to
a perpetual red carpet which he would only step off
at his accidental death.
I am not interested in Soviet nostalgia, but I am interested in the way in which
that day and that life have had inestimable effects.
Conceptual
ways to mark the day include:
Commemoration by name:ALL ART SCHOOLS will become the Gagarin College of Art
and Science for one week.
The sound of Juri Gagarins voice from space will be played over the loudspeaker
system of all the football stadiums in Scotland in that week..