The beautiful exploding flowers called Supernovas illuminate a moving theme indeed: matter’s slow ascent to glory… Generously they open like blossom, showering space with their myriad winged atoms.
(Michel Cassé, 2003)
I am a practice-based artist who produces sculptural work inspired by astrophysical phenomena; in the past, I have created sculptural representations of topics such as Space Time, Dark Matter and Black Holes. One of my fascinations with astronomy is the images they conjure. As a student who thrived in creative environments, but struggled in an analytical/academic environment, particularly within science, it was once I began to research into astronomy through artistic representation, understanding and passion for Astrophysics unfurled.
Though within this project I will be working primarily alone, I will be seeking advice from various experts in their fields:
Expertise and facilities for creating sculpture
The initial interdisciplinary project was aimed at creating a Third Space (Nicolescu, 2014) between the Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) and the John Lennon Art & Design building (JLADB), focusing on the pathway of separation between the two institution and the possible facilitation of crossover between the two. I planned to achieve this by creating a copper sculpture of a supernova, installed temporarily in the JLADB directly across from a telescope at the ARI.
Due to time constraints and difficulty sourcing copper, I have not been able to create the sculpture, however, plan to continue with this project in the near future (refer to Next Steps) and integrate the use of the sculpture into the planned workshop aimed and primary age children.
It is my aim in this project to introduce an alternative pathway in teaching astronomy, through creative, practice-based learning, particularly with primary school aged children, where imagination and curiosity is at its peak. This will be demonstrated through the development of workshop, where pupils will gain a foundational understanding of what a Supernova is and how elements essential to life originate in space. I hope that my own experience learning about astronomy through a creative approach will engage children with a diverse range of learning styles and foster confidence in the subject rather than apprehension.
The session will begin with pupils discussing the Supernova sculpture, followed by a short, age-appropriate presentation introducing what a supernova is. Pupils then explore everyday objects to link elements to supernova origins, before creating their own Supernova Mosaic using sunflower seeds to represent the idea of cosmic “seeds” (refer to image above).
After the completion of the workshop, I have created a plan to assess the impact following the advised methodology from Gemma Reed.
I have chosen the subject of supernova due to my extensive research and artist portfolio surrounding them, using sunflower seeds as a representation of production and scattering of elements across the cosmos. The idea originated from the book Stellar Alchemy by Michel Cassé, who oftentimes utilises the symbolic imagery of a flower in reference to a Supernova.
Overall, I aim to strengthen interdisciplinary practice, bridging art and science as an educational tool as well as developing on my own outreach skills through working with and seeking advice from experts. This website will demonstrate my ongoing research, work in progress and idea development. Though my outcome is tentative, I have devised a set plan to achieve my aims and objectives with an interdisciplinary methodological underpinning.
Orla Fox 