In my translation project I took an inanimate object, Pluto, and emoted human emotions, loneliness and yearning, onto said object based on extenuating circumstances surrounding the object. Discovered in 1930, seventy-six years later Pluto was demoted from its status as a planet in 2006 and removed from our solar system’s planetary line up. While non-living things can’t express emotions, it doesn’t mean others haven’t tried to do so on their behalf. Since Pluto’s exoneration, plenty of literature has been written expressing Pluto as lonely, sad, or vengeful. During my literature review I examined work ranging from scientific reports, personal narratives, and poetry. These sources digressed from research and images gathered by NASA to personal accounts containing slight bias from experienced astronauts to the emoted poetry of Fatimah Asghar, Maggie Dietz, and Kelli Agodon.
For my translation project I won’t participate in a literal translation, as in translating one language to another, but an abstract translation of the same medium across different disciplines. The medium being photography and the disciplines blurring between astronomy and social psychology. It occurred to me to connect these two disciplines after writing poetry about Pluto becoming a dwarf planet and researching the circumstances surrounding it. Pluto lost its classification as a planet due to the discovery of other celestial bodies like itself lingering too close. Because of this new knowledge Pluto’s public identity was altered to being thought of as insufficient. But in 2015, NASA’s New Horizons space probe conducted a six-month long fly over of Pluto and its moons collecting the first detailed images of the icy dwarf. From these images, scientists garnered a better understanding of the former planet beyond being tiny, frozen, and brown. Again, Pluto’s identity began to shift. Being thought of as important and no longer insufficient. If a difference in perspective unveiled by a series of images was all it took to alter the scientific community’s perception of Pluto, the same should be true of people and their identities. We need only get to know others beyond face value to understand every person, thing, and culture has a history to it.
In my project I am going to translate Pluto’s developmental narrative from its discovery, demotion, and revitalization into the characterization of a person. This will be accomplished through a series of twenty-six images divided evenly between Pluto and the person for a total of thirteen images each. Pluto’s images will mostly be taken from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the New Horizon space probe. The quality of the images of Pluto will vary as they were taken using different instruments throughout the years ranging from 1930 to 2015. Likewise, in an attempt to stay authentic, the person’s photos will also vary in quality from grainy and pixelated to high resolution and clear. Other components being manipulated to aid in a more cohesive narrative are the cameras, lighting, spacing, setting and post editing using applications like Adobe Sketch and Photoshop on an iPad. A title will also accompany every image growing in length and descriptiveness as the images progress. This suggest that we, as an audience, have learned more about Pluto and the person beyond face value. The images of Pluto and the person will be presented in a real and digital photo album. The digital photo album may additionally contain gifs while the real one will only have stills.
My translation is important because it focuses on identity, the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is, and how easily it can be altered because of perceived knowledge. It shows how the importance of an object or person can develop as more is known about the subject. But if nothing is known, there is no reason to be concerned. This is observed in a majority of the public’s attitude towards climate change. Because of the belief that it won’t affect them and therefore is not real, sufficient efforts to stop climate change are not being made. But if the public’s perception of climate change was altered to being thought of as relevant, maybe an effort would be made. Maybe through the effort of my translation and the narrative of twenty-six photos, people will learn to look beyond the surface.
Discovered in 1930, the first image of Pluto was captured by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in the Lowell Observatory. At the time of its imaging, astronomical technology wasn’t as developed as today’s telescopes and satellites, so the image quality was grainy and spotty in black and white film. This was in contrast to the images captured in 2015 by NASA’s New Horizons space probe. These images were taken in closer parameters, so they were extremely detailed as well as colored do to the layering of multiple images. Using both sets of images as a template for my own, I’ll create a timeline of development by drawing some images in pencil and pen and others with a tablet. This is to pay homage to traditional and modern forms of illustrations in relation to the Lowell Observatory and New Horizons space probe.
The content of these drawings is based off of the personal reflections of Astronauts who have conducted EVAs, extravehicular activities, or more commonly known as space walks. In the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast, astronomer Chris Hadfield attempted to describe what it felt like to conduct an EVA. He does so by firstly attempting to compare an EVA to other momentous events in his life like the birth of his three children or the opportunity to represent his country on multiple levels like being a fighter pilot, but eventually affirms, “nothing compares to going outside for a spacewalk. Nothing compares to being alone in the Universe; to that moment of opening the hatch and pulling yourself outside into the Universe.” (Atkinson) Hadfield explains that it wasn’t the journey or the buildup to the climax that impacted him but rather the grandeur of the destination itself. That its beauty was “stupefying” or thought stopping because it put the existence of humanity into perspective of the universe. “You feel this great human achievement of building this great structure [in reference to the international space station] that takes us to a place we’ve never been. But then you notice that even though it is huge and capable, it’s just a speck between everything which is on your left and all the colors and textures of our planet that are just pouring next to you on the right. And you are this little peephole of a microcosm in between those two things, both physically and historically.” (Atkinson) From Hadfield’s description, it is implied he feels extremely humbled as a person surrounded by the gas giants and rocky bodies that make up a measly corner of our universe. And taking into account his perspective, my illustrations should focus on the scenery of outer space versus the subject, be it Pluto or an astronaut, to produce a feeling of isolation or insignificance.
Accompanying the illustrations will also be captions verbalizing the pictures and the feelings they’re depicting. The tone captured may vary but should personify Pluto much like Fatimah Asghar, Maggie Dietz, and Kelli Agodon did in their individual poems. In Fatimah Asghar’s poem Pluto Shits on the Universe, Asghar personified Pluto as an insurgent who broke ranks, created chaos, and destroyed the cosmos without a care in the world. Asghar made Pluto into this brash character who was self-assured about their placement in universe and didn’t need a scientist or map to tell them otherwise. This was astonishing because most people, including the other two poets I am examining, pitied Pluto for their demotion or lack of acknowledgement. In Maggie Dietz’s poem Pluto, Dietz perceives Pluto as a friend facing rejection who needs reassurance in their importance regardless of their status. “Don’t feel small. We all have been demoted. Go on being moon or rock or orb …. No spacecraft has touched you, no flesh met the luster of your heavenly body …. No matter what you are …. None of your neighbors knows your name. Nothing has changed.” (Dietz) Pluto, regardless of being labeled a planet, a dwarf, or moon, would still Pluto– a rocky body guarding the edge of the solar system. In Kelli Agodon’s poem Ode to Pluto, Pluto is a misplaced child, “alone or adrift …. overlooked, too little to be noticed, sometimes lost in a crowd”. (Agodon) Agodon empathizes with Pluto and relates its pain with that or kid who has lost their parent. These poems capture many tones and use Pluto as a model to demonstrate a range of emotions and I should do the same in my captions and illustrations. In conclusion, Pluto is a body based in science, but through literature it has been known to be thought stopping. Characterized as a rebel, friend, and child, Pluto has become a social figure for society to emote onto and express its problems. In my translation I will do the same to depict the loneliness felt people, even when surrounded by others. Because lonely is not a number, but a state of mind.