Jewel of space

Hand-blown and optically coated glass, kiln-formed, hewn fragments, aluminium, steel cabling, projectors, video. 2023
200cm x 200cm x 200cm

Jewel of Space traces an internal landscape of channels, pathways and luminous sites. The glass elements transmute from hewn chunks to defined prismic geometries and lens forms that interact with projected light to evoke a language of spectral illumination - a cosmological map and the geography of the secret body, manifesting in space.

Jewel of Space was first exhibited as part of 'Seismic: Art Meets Science', which invited dialogues between artists and scientists — words by Dr Pippa Cole:

Whilst these objects appear to hang in the sky, they are in fact all embedded in the fabric of space-time, creating dimples that are proportional in depth to their mass. Gravity bends the paths of the light and causes lensing patterns in the sky. In this piece we can see diffraction patterns, intricate threads of light and shadow, and beams of light swept out and away from their hosts. The interplay between the glass and the light are reminiscent of the lensing effects that are caused by nothing but gravity.

Commentary by curator Paul Carey-Kent:

'Jewel of Space' traces an inner landscape of channels, pathways and luminous sites as the glass elements interact with projected light to evoke what Shuster & Moseley see as a language of spectral illumination — a cosmological map and a geography of a secret body, manifesting in space.