Megan Smith and Gao Yujie
October 28, 2023 to March 10, 2024
All the Stars We Cannot See is an immersive installation that explores the boundless expanse of satellite activity in space featuring a virtual sky with over 25,500 orbiting satellites. Created by Kelowna-based artists Dr. Megan Smith and Dr. Gao Yujie, this work pulls data from N2YO, a website that tracks information about satellites and their positions in space and allows programmers to integrate tracking data into their own applications.
This project sparks discussions about space colonization, the growing web of surveillance, and the political and economic influences that lay claim to our celestial frontier. It highlights the global impact of satellite density and encourages us to think about our expansion into space.
All the Stars We Cannot See opened to the public in April 2022 at the Visualization & Emerging Media Studio at UBC Okanagan and has been presented at EVA London 2021, and Technarte Bilbao 2022. It won an Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica 2022.
Megan Smith holds a PhD in Contemporary Art & Graphic Design from Leeds Beckett University, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Creative & Critical Studies at the UBCO. Gao Yujie holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies in Digital Arts and Humanities from the UBCO where she is a Sessional Lecturer in Creative and Media Studies.
Database design: Aristotle Roufanis
Sound design: Da Xu
Presented with support from:
All the Stars We Cannot See has won an Honorary Mention in the Digital Communities category.
VIDEO
Join Kelowna-based artists Dr. Megan Smith and Dr. Gao Yujie, as they chat about their project, All the Stars We Cannot See. This work pulls data from N2YO, a website that tracks information about satellites and their positions in space and allows programmers to integrate tracking data into their own applications.
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