Michael Najjar: Outer Space

Description:

As the artist Michael Najjar (b. Landau, 1966; lives and works in Berlin) reaches the summit of Mount Aconcagua, Argentina, in 2009, he is overwhelmed by a vision: he will fly to space. In the near future, Najjar, one of Germanys most renowned photographers, will head for outer space in the SpaceshipTwo, a spacecraft currently under development. His eyes firmly set on his goal, the artist utterly dedicates himself to his series outer space, which is based on photographs and video pieces. His work is supported by scientists at the Deutsches Zentrum fr Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Centre) and NASA. The defining quality of Najjars practice is his empirical approach. Living through his motifs, the artist believes, is essential. He began work on his current series by undergoing intense training for future astronauts in Russias Star City. Defying physical limitations, Najjar pushed his body to extremes in stratospheric and zero-g flights, centrifug