The Ascent of Albert II

The Ascent of Albert II

The title of this piece refers to Albert II, a rhesus monkey who became the first mammal to enter space on June 14th 1949. He survived the launch, but later died in an explosion on his return to earth. Obviously the doomed primate had no comprehension of the ground-breaking experiment into which he was unfairly press-ganged, nor had he any concept of the space race, or the fact that his death would be recorded in the annals of history. I suspect that had he been aware of all this, he’d have considered it a dubious accolade, and one which he would have swapped without a moments hesitation for a ripe banana and a place in the sun. In this context I think the picture is about the more absurd side of man’s pursuit of scientific knowledge, an ascent which like the staircase in the foreground, only takes us so high. The boots, representing the physical reality, remain firmly rooted to terra firma, while the monkey stands above, surrounded by the darkness of the void. I’m not suggesting that the pursuit of knowledge is pointless, but rather illustrating the fact that progress usually comes as a result of suffering. Ultimately, as animals, our basic needs and desires have not altered in thousands of years, and our unquenchable hunger for knowledge has brought us as much suffering as it has pleasure.