Skip to main content
We’re honored to be nominated in the 2023 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards. Vote For Us
Enjoy up to 40% off your stay and dining credits with our Spring Equinox offers. Explore Spring Equinox Offers
Nature is our true north. Discover Our Sustainability Story
Condé Nast Traveler visits 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. CNT Hot List Spotlight
Wanderlust

Rachel Rose: Journey To Space

“When I first came back to Earth after 128 days in space, I thought I had ruined my life … because gravity felt so heavy.” NASA Astronaut David Wolfe

Published on: February 12, 2016


“When I first came back to Earth after 128 days in space, I thought I had ruined my life … because gravity felt so heavy.” NASA Astronaut David Wolfe

earth from space

Some of us watched movies Gravity or Interstellar and walked away feeling entertained.

Others, like 28 year old artist, Rachel Rose, walked away inspired to make art that might just transport her audience to the ethereal darkness of space.

“Regardless of whether those films were good or bad, they put in relief for me the human experience on Earth in a sensorial, physical way,” she tells the Guardian. “I left the theatre feeling a looseness, a detachment from my everyday understanding of the world and how things fit together. I wanted to do something that addressed that powerful feeling, but not through spectacle. How can we get to that place, but through what is grounded here on Earth?”

Rose recently launched her first solo show, Rachel Rose: Everything and More, at the  Whitney Museum of American Art’s new downtown New York location. The exhibit’s title is a reference to David Foster Wallace’s book about infinity but inspired by NASA astronaut David Wolf’s captivating retelling of his walk over earth while at the MIR Space station in the 1990s.

The 10-minute film — which fuses together fluid footage of kitchen close-ups or EDM festivals and scaled back audio of Wolf or the tone of Aretha Franklin somehow bring order to what is chaotic or seemingly unrelated. The film is projected on floor to ceiling windows covered in scrim and the images from the out outside world weave into the visual narrative  to create a familiar yet out of world aesthetic. 

Rachel Rose Collectorist
Still from Rachel Rose via The Collectorist

Still from film via W Magazine
Still from film via W Magazine

Rose has received lot of attention by art critics and the media alike. (If the The New York Times is any indication, they opening their review with: “The art world is always looking for the Next Big Thing, and right now, the video installations of Rachel Rose look set to be It.”) 

At $22, this short trip to space from the comfort of Earth seems like a good deal. So go check it out and decide for yourself. 

More Stories We'd Think You'd Enjoy

Taste Meets Tradition: Honoring Hawaiian Culture With Chef by Nature, Nancy Silverton

World-renowned Chef Nancy Silverton shares her background, expertise, and excitement for the debut...

You’d Bee Surprised Just How Much Pollinators Do for Us

From giving us the bright blooms of spring to helping us maintain our global food supplies, we’re...

More Than Just Music: The Incredible Role of Sound in Crafting Moments of Awe

Our sonic curator, Michaelangelo L’Acqua, sings the well-deserved praises of a carefully crafted...