Niamh Shaw is an Engineer who has spend part of her life in full-time academic research, publishing articles in peer-review journal. Then she decided to merge science, art, technology and humanity becoming the Artist in Residence at CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory. Today she is a scientist, an artist and performer and a brilliant communicator. She has been recently listed in Ireland’s Top 38 Talented women in Technology. She was at EGU 2015 EOS 7 Earth and Art Session in Vienna last April to tell us the fulfillment of a task she gave to herself in January 2014: to go TO SPACE by whatever means possible. In doing so, Niamh has given us the opportunity to share with her a very popular dream. It is not a case that over 200 thousand civilians from all over the world applied for Mars-One mission, but only 4 Astronauts will colonize Mars in 2025.
We already know that very few are those who go to Space and for many of us this will remain a dream. But what kind of dream is this? And where this dream will lead us? Niamh’s project TO SPACE, funded by Science Foundation Ireland (in partnership with CIT BCO) & The Arts Council of Ireland, merges popular science topics about Space exploration with feelings and emotions that makes this a unique human experience. Starting from testimonies of astronauts who has described the adventure of going to space and looking back at Earth almost as a mystical experience that changed their life (watch the video about the overview effect), till the experience every individual makes in his life confronting his own dreams. What are you doing with impossible dreams?, ask Niamh. She is confronting herself with her own big dream starting with a show that uses personal stories, highly visual interactive multimedia, engaging with the audience at many sensory levels. In doing so, she wishes to stimulate a debate about the importance of space exploration, also increasing awareness of careers in he Geoscience and Space industry. Of not less importance is discovering new platforms for science in the Arts and in STEM Education, igniting people’s natural curiosity in it.
Last but not least, She wants to engage the audience in a more philosophical matter: what is our attraction to Space? What are we chasing or escaping from? The show is touring, the most recent performance was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=P6929h_BSXs
TO SPACE .Theatre Show promotional video
see also the following interview with Niamh Shaw
NIamh Shaw presentation at EGU 2015