Christine Oatman

Thematically, Lift Off! deals with America’s preoccupation with space travel after the Soviet Union’s Sputnik launch in 1957 and the subsequent Space Race. The tableau consists of three wall-mounted shelves on which the altered book as well as various vintage space toys are displayed. Other space toys suspended from the ceiling lead the eye in an upward diagonal direction toward the space portal installed in the ceiling, which is the focal point of this installation. On the left, the life-size figure of the boy on the chair jumps up in an opposing diagonal direction toward the same ceiling portal.