Rooney shifts on her stool. “I appreciate that. For now, yes, I do both. My ultimate dream is to do large-scale installations in public spaces exclusively. I love that element of surprise and showing people something new somewhere they don’t expect. It’d just be out there for everyone, not limited to a ticketed museum or gallery.”
“It’s so important for more people to be exposed to art without barriers,” Nell adds.
“How wonderful,” Gong Gong says. “Your themes are thought-provoking. With your art, you can share bigger ideas with people about the world beyond us, the world we live in, and how we canengage with both as humans.” He drizzles chocolate syrup around his scoop of matcha ice cream, the chocolate lines hardening as they freeze.
“Yes, Bohai! You get me. That’s why I love working with string. It’s tangible, and I enjoy taking something ordinary and turning it into something grander. As long as it doesn’t get littered in,” Rooney says with a laugh.
The joke doesn’t sound like one that Rooney sometimes uses to mask her pain. Instead, she sounds like someone who has had time to process it. She’s not letting it define her anymore.
Rooney watches Gong Gong’s spiral motion carefully. His ice cream is almost entirely covered at this point. When Gong Gong is finished with his masterpiece, she smiles. “That’s a solid technique, Bohai. Do you always wrap your ice cream?” she asks.
“That was a little too much chocolate string, wasn’t it?” he says with a chuckle.
Rooney adds chocolate to her own ice cream. “Never too much string.”
“Can I just say that I love seeing someone who looks like me doing cool stuff in the world?” Maria jumps in. “It was so meaningful that the first artist for this program was a mixed-race Asian American woman. I mean, I only know that because I know who you are, but still.”
“That means a lot,” Rooney says. She falls quiet, looking like she’s working through something in her mind.
As we talk, Gong Gong flips through a copy of theLos Angeles Times. After a few more page turns, Rooney gasps and points to a photograph of a guy surrounded by flowers in the Arts section.
“Who’s that?” Maria asks.
“That’s Arlo Hart,” she says, her brows furrowed. “I went to his show. What does it say?”
Gong Gong lifts the paper and adjusts his glasses, squinting at the small print. “Arlo Hart… twenty years old… son of a famous photographer… ah, here we go. It was a sold-out show in Santa Monica. It was so popular, they ended up selling not only the photographs but the flowers from the net. It’s followed by an interview with him.”
This artist sold all of his photographs and then some. I can practically hear Rooney counting numbers in her head across the table.
Rooney sits up straighter and pets Sprinkles so she doesn’t jump off her lap. “Good for him.”
“That could be you, Rooney,” Nell says. “Well, not a photo of you, obviously. But maybe your installation. Your first showcase is coming up.”
“Yeah. It’s a couple of months away,” Rooney says. She has a smile on her face but there’s worry in her eyes. “I hope there’s coverage at this level. My mom warned me that it can be hard for women in art.”
Maria waves Rooney off. “Nah! One day that’ll be you on the front page.”
“It can’t be if I’m always hiding,” Rooney says, pushing leftover waffle around on her plate. “I used to think that my anonymity would let my work stand out. Now I wonder if my hidden identity might overshadow the bigger messages of my art. People have been even more curious about who Red String Girl is.”
“You can do work outside of NASA, right?” Brian asks.
Rooney shifts in her seat. “Honestly, that’s where I’m a little stuck.”
The team encourages Rooney to tell them what’s on her mind.
“I feel like I’m on the verge of inspiration,” she tells them, looking at me when she says this. “My mom is an artist, too. A bold one.Sometimes I think I play it a little too safe because she’s so fearless. I used to want to take more risk like she did. But now I just… hide.”
“You know, we take a lot of risks at NASA,” Maria says. “We’re doing things that haven’t been done before. If we want to make change, we have to push boundaries.”
“And we have haters. There are people who think we shouldn’t be trying to go to Mars, or even back to the moon,” Toby adds. “Some people only want to look. Others believe we should be spending resources to make this planet better first before trying to go to others.”
“Everyone’s going to think what they think,” Mac says. “No matter what you do, even if what you think you’re doing is right, you’ll have people rooting against you. I’m sure you can relate, being an artist.”
Rooney laughs. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Going to another planet is the epitome of going big. To be totally honest with you all, doing something very public is a way for me to get my art and the themes behind it seen, but right now I also need the money. Which means I need the exposure. I’m not in trouble or anything,” she adds quickly.
“Specifics aren’t necessary. You need to make money to survive like the rest of us,” Maria says supportively. “I’ve lived in LA for a while so I take it all for granted, but I’m sure there’s something that would be exciting.”
“Like the Hollywood Sign,” I mumble.
