Cosmic Field Trip is a limited edition art book (printed in 50 hard cover, 150 soft cover copies) made of collages from The Basic Science Education Series written in 40s-50s. Each chapter is a reconstruction of a different book (The Earth's Nearest Neighbor, The Earth a Great Storehouse, Light, Fire) written by Bertha Morris Parker. It comes with "Guide to the Cosmic Field Trip", a guidebook that explains the context.
The book will be presented in Istanbul, Border_less artbook fair in 3-5 May 2024. For EU and US pre-orders please contact elibensusan@gmail.com.
The book criticizes the foundations of modernist education that splits ethics and scientific fact by subverting a textbook to an art book. At the same time the excitement and curiosity that these books brings to a child is celebrated. Explanatory diagrams merge with selected phrases that are now verses of poetic visuals. Photographs are cut and become relics of myths. Instructions for experiments turn into guides for spiritual rituals. The subverted new book, now reflects a utopia where science education is not only driven by facts but is also accompanied with emotions, poetry, and a more experiential understanding of the universe.
This project has received the Border_less book fund, and is supported with Border_less book fund.
