Night Vision(s)

BACKGROUND: Artists have long responded to and interpreted the work of other artists. The current British Council project through which significant writers and poets have been invited to respond to Shakespeare's works on the 400th anniversary of his death. This group exhibition curated by Dr Fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lesley Duxbury
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:unknown
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.25439/rmt.27349911.v1
https://figshare.com/articles/physical_object/Night_Vision_s_/27349911
Description
Summary:BACKGROUND: Artists have long responded to and interpreted the work of other artists. The current British Council project through which significant writers and poets have been invited to respond to Shakespeare's works on the 400th anniversary of his death. This group exhibition curated by Dr Felicity Spear drew together 9 artists with interests in the sky and astronomy to reveal their diverse responses to a complex yet fictional story, Somnium or The Dream, by Johannes Kepler, the 17th century German mathemetician and astronomer. CONTRIBUTION: The motivation for Duxbury's Night Vision(s) was the photographs she took of the Aurora Borealis while on an artist residency in North Iceland in October 2015. These along with the introductory text in Kepler's Somnium led her to reflect on her dream-like experiences of the Aurora in such a volatile location. The Aurora Borealis flitters across the sky in spooky, magical bands and waves reminiscent of the spirits recounted by the mother in Somnium, who "reject the greater light of other regions.and seek out our shaded areas." One of the spirits was able to transport humans to "other shores". Viewing the Aurora Borealis is not a passive experience. The multiple inkjet printed aluminium panels in Night Vision(s) encourage visual movement from one panel to another emulating the otherworldly experience of being beneath one of the most astounding phenomena in the world. SIGNIFICANCE: Kepler's Dream was programmed as one of only 8 exhibitions at LUVAC in 2016 and included in National Science Week programming.