This Used to Be the Future | LACMA

This Used to Be the Future

Rachel Sussman

Rachel Sussman received a grant from the Art + Technology Lab to research Deep Time and deep space to inform new work. Her investigation was centered around visits to NASA Ames Research Center in the Bay Area. Sussman is a photographer, a writer, and a TED speaker whose recent book, The Oldest Living Things in the World, was published in 2014.

NASA Ames Research Center, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

NASA Ames Research Center, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Hazardous Substance Storage, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Hazardous Substance Storage, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Behind the 6x6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel Support Building, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Behind the 6x6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel Support Building, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Hangar One, Moffat Federal Airfield, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Hangar One, Moffat Federal Airfield, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Decommissioned Equipment Lot, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Decommissioned Equipment Lot, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Titan I Missile (McMoon parking lot), 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Titan I Missile (McMoon parking lot), 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Space Shavings/ Machine Shop Floor, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Space Shavings/ Machine Shop Floor, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Flashing Beacon Indicates Oxygen Deficiency, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Flashing Beacon Indicates Oxygen Deficiency, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Machine Shop, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Machine Shop, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

(Restricted Military Area), 2015, © Rachel Sussman

(Restricted Military Area), 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Back to the Moon after 25 years, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Back to the Moon after 25 years, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Surface of the Astrobiology Building, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Surface of the Astrobiology Building, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Thermal Projection and Arc Jet Laboratories, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Thermal Projection and Arc Jet Laboratories, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Warehouse N, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

Warehouse N, 2015, © Rachel Sussman

From the blog: This Used to Be the Future

Artist Rachel Sussman received a grant from our Art + Technology Lab to research Deep Time and deep space to inform new work. Here, she reflects upon her investigation by recalling her visits to NASA Ames Research Center in the Bay Area.

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In 2014 Sussman began developing new work deepening her explorations of personal and cosmic time, the universe, nature, philosophy, and beauty. With the support of the LACMA Art + Technology Lab, and working with SpaceX, NASA, and CERN, her new work can be found at MASS MoCA, the New Museum Los Gatos, and the Des Moines Art Center. She is currently an artist in residence with the SETI Institute.

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