Ghostly Sculpture Floats Above Earth in Stunning Art Project

A team of artists and scientists sent an evocative sculpture to space to capture jaw-dropping footage of a human form dancing in the stratosphere.

The Dorothy Project teamed up with Taroni, a master silk weaver from Italy. Together, they sent the human-like sculpture into space to blend art and science.

“Mission Taroni invites us to rethink our relationship to creation, and to ask how, in shaping matter, we also shape our way of seeing life and our planet,” The Dorothy Project says, which compares Mission Taroni to Christo and Jeanne-Claude, artists noted for their large-scale art installations.

“By superimposing this ghostly silhouette onto the planet, our only habitat, and the infinite blackness of space, we create an image that transcends aesthetics and invites reflection on our place in the universe,” The Dorothy Project says.

“This dizzying contrast between the ephemeral nature of the body and the Earth, the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution, reminds us of our cosmic insignificance as well as our collective responsibility toward living beings.”

The amazing footage was filmed on Insta360 cameras. Part of Team Dorothy’s project is to inspire the Overview Effect, the profound effect astronauts feel as they gaze upon the Earth from space.

Last year, the Dorothy Project deployed an 11K ultra-high-definition 360-degree camera that captured “some of the most precise images ever recorded” 20 miles above the Earth. The footage and photos will be used in documentaries and immersive science-fiction films.

The Dorothy 8 rig took eight months of research and development to build. The 24 kg (52 lbs) aluminum structure is capable of withstanding up to 7Gs of force. It is a modified Insta360 Titan that also has two Insta360 X4s attached and one Insta360 Ace Pro 2. It is controlled by dual redundant onboard computers, one seamlessly takes over if the other fails.

The cameras were repainted with the same space-grade coating used on the International Space Station (ISS). This special paint optimizes thermal control in the stratosphere, allowing the camera to handle the extreme temperature difference, a swing of about 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit), between the sunlit side and the shaded side.

Image credits: The Dorothy Project