The Greatest Show is Leaving is a series of photographs that were taken at Cape Canaveral on 8 July 2011 during the launch of STS-135 Atlantis, which marked the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. This event was significant, not only in the history of space travel, but also in personal terms for Sascha, who in May 1983 witnessed the space shuttle Enterprise come to his hometown of Cologne.

In Florida, standing once again on a viewing platform, he chose not to depict the launch itself, but instead let the photographs centre on the rocket plume created by the shuttle’s solid-fuel boosters. As time passed, the plume continued to dissipate into the atmosphere until it was almost indistinguishable from the rest of the overcast sky, leaving hardly a trace of what minutes ago had been an overpowering spectacle, performed for the last time.

Sascha Pohflepp is a German-born artist and writer. In his work and research he aims to probe the role of technology in our efforts to understand and influence our environment, extending across both historical aspects and visions of the future. His artistic practice more often than not involves collaboration with other artists and scientists, creating work on subjects ranging from synthetic biology to geo-engineeringand space exploration.

Grants and residencies include an EPSRC Knowledge Transfer grant, 2011; residencies in the Synthetic Aesthetics project and at the Art Center College Pasadena, 2010. In the autumn/winter of 2013, Sascha was an artist-in-residence at Eyebeam, New York City. Recent exhibitions include Bunny Smash, MOT, Tokyo; Grow Your Own, Science Gallery, Dublin; Talk To Me, MoMA, New York; and Pre-history of the Image at STUK Kunstencentrum, Leuven. Sascha holds a Diploma in Media Art from Berlin’s University of the Arts and an MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art London, where he has also been leading the annual synthetic biology project.