Through posters, collages, photographs, infographics and videos, an exhibition in the capital will draw a parallel between Earth and outer space, bringing into focus questions about environmental degradation, sustainability and recycling.

Questions like "Is survival on earth becoming even more precarious than in space?", "Can our cities survive for long if they continue to grow irresponsibly?", "How can policy makers intervene to make our cities self-sufficient?" would be raised through "The Undivided Mind", an exhibition emanating from a two-week residency that explores the crossover between two seemingly unrelated fields of art and science.

This exhibition explores the ways in which scientific processes and discovery can be coupled with visual art production and vice-versa and has been created during the residency by the City As A Spaceship (CAAS) Collective and Rohini Devasher.

It will be open for public viewing at Khoj Studios from Feb 27 to March 3.

The City As A Spaceship [CAAS]1 crew re-imagined KHOJ, Khirkee and the surrounding areas of Delhi as a spaceship. After visitors enter the airlock, they enter a visual metaphor of a spaceship. They are invited to shift their perspectives, through collages that collide the realities of living in extremes of space with the realities of living in the extremes of dense uber cities. Expert Interview footage further feeds the opportunities in juxtaposing these living scenarios and how they can learn and inform each other. CAAS is delighted to be joined by Delhi Artist – Rohini Devasher whose work of video footage positions the changing shades of blue of the sky, and the fragility of green, alongside CAAS scientific prose.

  • Susmita Mohanty is a spaceship designer and aerospace entrepreneur. She is the CEO of Earth2Orbit, India’s first private space design start-up and her third venture. Prior to turning entrepreneur, she worked for the Space Station Program at Boeing in California and did a short stint at NASA Johnson.
  • Barbara Imhof is a space architect and the co-founder and co-manager of the LIQUIFER Systems Group , a platform for a group of experts from the fields of architecture, design, human factors, systems engineering, physics and space technology. She has extensive project experience in trans-disciplinary, cross-cultural and cross-generational collaborations.
  • Sue Fairburn is a Design Educator and Researcher who works between the boundaries of the body and the environment. Her research experience, gained over 20+ years,uses Design as knowledge exchange applied to Social Design and Reciprocities in Design for Extremes.She was co-founder of a Social Enterprise, Design for Development [DFD 2005-2012], which used the design process as a problem solving and engagement tool in low-income settings.
  • Rohini Devasher lives and works in New Delhi. She received her MA in Printmaking from the Winchester School of Art in the UK and her BFA in Painting from the College of Art in New Delhi. She works in a variety of media including large site specific drawings, video, digital prints, and sound. Devasher was the recipient of the Forbes India Young Contemporary Artist of the Year 2014, Skoda Breakthrough Artist Award 2013 and the Sarai Associate Fellowship 2010 and INLAKS Fine Art Award 2007 and 2008. 

Works will remain on view till March 3rd, 2015.

  • 1. CAAS arose in 2007 as a manifesto written by Susmita Mohanty and Siddharth Das and made its public debut in ‘Volume’ in 2010 as “Mumbai as a Spaceship”. Barbara Imhof joined CAAS in 2012 and translated the CAAS concept into “Spaceship City” for ESA. Soon after, Sue Fairburn joined and CAAS became a zone of confluence forthe three creative frontierswomen.

    Susmita, Barbara and Sue have episodically come together over the last 15 years to explore notions of habitability and to generate creative modes of engagement for sharing their perspectives with others. Individually, their backgrounds all depart from Earth – Space Architecture + Habitability Design, Environmental Physiology + Design for Extreme Environments, Spaceship Design + Aerospace Entrepreneurship.

    Collectively, their efforts have informed a new genre of (aero)space architecture that takes a multidisciplinary approach to designing future systems. Their outputs include a book [Transcripts of an Architectural Journey], book chapters, feasibility studies, journal articles, public lectures, installations, and more. Supporters of their work have included European Space Agency [ESA], the Austrian Chancellery of Art, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics [AIAA].

    CAAS is a new way of thinking about humans and their relationships with their habitats that serves to explore and inform the reciprocities between extra-terrestrial and terrestrial architecture and design to improve future cities. In this view of the universe, the idea of living in the challenging environment of outer space serves as a metaphor for life in modern cities – dense living in confined spaces, closed-loop systems, recycling of resources, energy efficiency and more.

    In their most recent confluence, the trio touch down as CAAS @ KHOJ Artist Association in New Delhi for an Art+Science residency;where they continue to generate visions for future habitats as a traveling lab for inspiration and immersive design.