In August 2007 scientists managing the infra-red Spitzer Space Telescope began a series of conversations with five contemporary artists. 

Intended to inform the artists' creation of original artworks, the conversations were a port of OBSERVE, a collaboration between Art Center College of Design and California Institute of Technology. Deep space exploration reveals spectacular concepts that torque our everyday understanding of reality -- black hole physics, multiple universes, string theories, time distortions -- and that challenge our human-centered cultural traditions and beliefs. 

OBSERVE commissioned Southern California artists Lita Albuquerque, Lynn Aldrich, Dan Goods, George Legrady, and Daniel Wheeler to engage with Spitzer's knowledge and technology resources, and explore the implications of its discoveries. 

Thoughtful contemporary art mines its subjects for meaning, nuance, and a sense of both the profound and the provocative. Reflecting the science and beauty of deep space astronomy as well as its intersection with the broad social and cultural intellect of our time, OBSERVE is meant to ignite in its viewers a curiosity about the complex nature of the universe and our relationship to it.