Orrery
(…an apparatus for representing the positions, motions and phases of the planets, satelites, etc. in the solar system.
Origin: First recorded in 1705-15; named after Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery (1676-1731), for whom it was first made.)
Analogue
(adjective… of relating to a mechanism that represents data by measurement of a continuous physical variable…)
An orrery s a representation of a system through a clockwork mechanism. Its a mathematical device to determine times, phases and arrangement of cosmic bodies. It is an attempt to rationalize the cosmos, to quantify and predict.
In my version of the Orrery I am proposing a model of our engagement or view of the world.
For the See Art Exhibition at the Association of Art, Pretoria, the curator’s brief states that on average the “viewer (art-consumer) spends 17 seconds looking at an artwork in a gallery or museum.” A fleeting glance. Almost 17 times longer than flicking through and liking an image on your Instagram feed.
An average day in our contemporary social-connected society is filled with thousands of images, ideas, concepts. All secondhand info. All seen through filtered hand-held battery operated lenses.
My work is not a criticism on this deluge of cute cats and epic fails. It is much more a challenge to engage with that first hand experience we call life – our own life, curiosity, awe, amazement, discovery… through an analogue engagement.
I am attempting to bring the experience of immediacy to the spectator.
Metaphors:
Rock = Earth
Cut grid on rock = Human “footprint”, terraforming, altering the environment in our image,…
Paint on rock = paint on rock
Lenses = Do you really see what I see? The human condition… discovery… love…
2 thoughts on “Orrery”