Björn Dahlem’s ‘Black Hole (M-Spheres)’ (2008)
Photo: Blaise Adilon
Photo courtesy: The Saatchi Gallery
Leonardo da Vinci: Codex Atlanticus, Sheet 554v
c.1513
Photo courtesy: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milano
‘The Universe and Art’ at the Mori Art Museum Mori Art Museum presents the exhibition ‘The Universe and Art’ from July 30, 2016 to January 9, 2017. Astronomy manuscripts penned by genius Leonardo da Vinci, plus The latest, immersive installation by teamLab.]]>
Source: Mori Art Museum
Our universe is of perennial interest, appearing in art all around the world as an object of worship and study over the centuries, and spawning countless stories. “The Universe and Art,” in just one exhibition, offers a diverse selection of around 200 items from across the globe and down the centuries, in multiple genres, from meteorites and fossils to historic astronomical material by Da Vinci and Galileo; mandalas; Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) which we may call Japan’s oldest sci-fi novel; installations by contemporary artists, and the latest from the frontline of space development.
Comprising four sections: “How Have Humans through the Ages Viewed the Universe?” “The Universe as Space-Time” “A New View of Life – Do Aliens Exist?” and “Space Travel and the Future of Humanity,” the exhibition offers novel, future-oriented views of the cosmos and mankind.
How Have Humans through the Ages Viewed the Universe?
This section focuses on one part of historical cosmologies: human views of the universe down the millennia, looking at myths and religious art objects from east and west, plus priceless astronomy material.
The Universe as Space-Time
Black holes that suck up even stars; the fact that the starlight we gaze on now comes to us from hundreds of millions of light years away; the wonders of space – 11 dimensions of it apparently – and astounding advances in astral observation that have evolutionized our perceptions of space and time, all presented as works of contemporary art.
A New View of Life – Do Aliens Exist?
Starting with meteorites and fossils from a geohistory that extends far beyond the presence of homosapiens, this section features artworks that reference images of aliens as imagined by people down the centuries, plus the latest genetic engineering and A.I. technologies.
Space Travel and the Future of Humanity
As an era of space travel for all draws closer, this section offers artists’ visions of the relationships people will have with the universe, and how our lives will change in the future.
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Tsang Kin-Wah at the Mori Art Museum (exhibition, 2011)
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