Australian artist-scientist Sarah Pell, who performs in extreme environments to simulate what it is like to be in space, on Friday said in Taipei that she hopes to understand how human beings behave in difficult surroundings and learn to adjust accordingly.
Trained by NASA on a mission to become the world’s first female artist-astronaut, Pell said her art projects — carried out in places ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to Mount Everest — are aimed at conducting the ultimate conversation between human beings and the universe.
“I am really interested in how we can create radical feet of imagination, to create an arc of technology that builds solutions for us from sea, to summit, to space,” she said at a forum held by the Australian Office Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Pell said she wants to use various art forms — from dance and performance technology to live art and commercial diving — that “amplify human conditions” and share with her audiences her personal experiences under those science fiction-like conditions.
“My aim is to build an understanding of what it means to be alive today,” said Pell, who was invited as a keynote speaker at Art Taipei, which opened on Friday and is to run through tomorrow.
“We need to evolve and adapt to really take care of our planet so we can take care of ourselves,” said Pell, who is the first female artist-astronaut candidate assigned to a Suborbital Spaceflight Mission.
The scientist-astronaut mission, designed by former NASA astronaut instructors, teaches candidates the skills to effectively conduct research on commercial space vehicles, as part of an international research campaign dedicated to the study of the global climate.
By performing under extreme circumstances, putting herself in absolute solitude, Pell said she is given the chance to explore her inner-self and to realize that people have the potential to learn how to evolve and survive.
Pell said that by pushing the boundaries, she has also found a sense of self-empowerment, which she defined as “the courage to ask questions with conviction and being prepared to follow where they might take you.”
That sense of empowerment comes from the willingness to undertake whatever challenges exist to search for the answer, she said.
Through her art performances, Pell said she might have found part of the answer to her ultimate quest for humanity and the meaning of life.
“I think to be alive today is to be confronted, to be challenged, and to stand up and do something exciting,” she said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard