Residency Medicis | Sarah Pinard

Sarah Pinard is in residence at the Académie de France in Rome – Villa Médicis as part of the Résidences Médicis programme.

During her residency, Sarah Pinard will produce a work in the tradition of the “space artist”, a movement born with the conquest of space. Her work is a hybrid between political science and art.

In the 1970s, the American astronomer Carl Sagan drew a descriptive plaque on one of the Pioneer space probes (1972-1973) launched into space for exploration purposes. The plaque featured a representation of the human species and our geographical location in the solar system. Launched like a bottle into the sea, it was used to signal our existence to other species if they encountered the probes. After this first experiment, other messages were sent: the golden disc on the Voyager 1 and 2 probes (1977) which included music, images of daily life on Earth, greetings in several languages etc. Then, audio messages were transmitted through radio waves via radio telescope (the famous Arecibo message in 1974).

If we were to make a 21st century Pioneer plaque, what would it look like?

Biography

Sarah Pinard was born on 10 August 1987 in Issy-les-Moulineaux (France). She has lived in Paris, Barcelona and Hong Kong.

She has worked for various news producers: in journalism (Le Figaro, l’Express), in institutions (the National Assembly, the Senate), and in a polling institute (Viavoice). She was also interested in diplomacy, with a stint at the French Consulate General in Hong Kong.

She graduated with a PhD in political science with unanimous congratulations from the Jury and also received a distinction from the prestigious Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University for her thesis.