oscillating universe

2015

Format 1: 202 x 132 cm / 79.5 x 52 in, edition of 6 + 2 AP
Format 2: 102 x 67 cm / 40.2 x 26.3 in, edition of 6 + 2 AP
Hybrid photography, archival pigment print, aludibond, diasec, custom-made aluminium frame

The work "oscillating universe" visualizes the "Big Bounce" theory, which offers a hypothetical scientific model of the birth of our Universe. This theory draws on the idea of a cyclic or oscillatory universe that resulted during the Big Bang from the collapse of a previous universe. It argues that the Big Bang, which happened some 13.7 billion years ago, was the final big bang of a universe that existed before our own, whose mass collapsed under the influence of gravity. Thus the Big Bang is no singularity but marks the beginning of a period of expansion following from a period of contraction. According to the oscillatory universe theory, the Big Bang was simply the beginning of a period of expansion that followed a period when space contracted. This suggests that we could be living at any point in an infinite sequence of universes, or that our present Universe could be the first iteration of such a sequence.

The composition of the artwork "oscillating universe" draws on multiple super high-res data visualizations of distant galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, which have been digitally stitched to form a new fictive universe. This new universe has been inverted (reversal of black and white values) and supplemented with a matter-absorbing black hole. During the mounting of the final artwork, small metal particles were added that spread at random across the picture. These particles glitter like stars and vanish the next moment, depending on the lightning and the viewers’ perspective. They can be taken as a metaphor for the circle of life.

Imprint

Personally liable:
Michael Najjar

Design concept & coding: Matthias Hübner, possible.is
with support by Marco Land

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