Alex Mira

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FR • EN

Almagestes (Ursa Major)

2019 – in progress environment: spatial materials: titanium, aluminium, silkscreen printing horizon: 2.365e17 m / 2.365e18 m cycle: infini

This series of titanium plates and silkscreen prints on tracing paper shows several constellations (opposite, Ursa Major), as seen from the Earth, at three periods several tens of thousands of years apart and corresponding to the birth, present and future of human civilization. Since the stars all have different speeds and trajectories around the center of the galaxy, the patterns drawn by the constellations change at a speed only perceptible on large time scales. The constellations that we know change shape and, over sufficiently long periods of time, become unrecognizable. Using these representations, the aim is to establish a parallel between the temporality of the human species and that of the planet it inhabits.

Although the work was conceived using materials used in the aerospace industry which are supposed to be able to withstand an interstellar journey, it is not intended to leave our atmosphere. The work refers to our apprehension of the existence of other forms of life such as the Pioneer plates, the Golden record of Voyager or the radio message of Arecibo. More broadly, it questions the relationship that humanity has with its environment, how it positions itself inside and outside.


              Ursa Major : 40 000 BCE, 150 CE, 50 000 CE
              2018
              Engraving on titanium, aluminum.
              Color silkscreens on blue tracing paper.
              55 × 80 cm