What is the ‘Alchemist-as-Observer’?

The Alchemist-as-Observer is a key figure in the underpinning of my methodologies. The concept was created in the essay ‘How does the figure of the Alchemist-as-Observer activate Nicolescu’s concept of the Hidden Third and illuminate the mediating space between Art and Astronomy?’. In the essay I examined Nicolescu’s ‘Methodology of Transdisciplinarity’ where he speculates on the relationship between disparate subjects, and how they may interact with each other in a transdisciplinary context. In his paper, Nicolescu argues that it is incorrect to suggest subjects collide, rather, they orbit one another. Much like planets, the gravitational interaction between the two is what activates transdisciplinarity in a space he coins as the Hidden Third. I have built upon Nicolescu’s concept of the Hidden Third and applied it to art and astronomy where both subjects may interact but also exist as mutual outcomes in the act of observation. The act of observing is sometimes considered to be passive, however, with the additional figure of the Alchemist, the observer transforms into an active observer whereby they replicate their Astronomical findings in a transformative process, as written in the foundational text of Alchemy, the Emerald Tablet: “What is Above corresponds to that which is Below” (trans. 12th Century). The gnostic symbol of the ouroboros represents Alchemy and the infinite cycle of distillation and condensation, as it embodies the cosmos in its infinite cycle of creation and destruction, hence my adoption of the symbol within the context of the Alchemist-as-Observer.

How does the Alchemist-as-Observer figure in this project?

As illustrated in my short film documenting the process of creating the sculpture, I am framing myself as the Alchemist-as-Observer where I replicate the processes of the cosmos through transforming copper, a material originating from the stars, but also deeply connected with Alchemy, through bashing and fumage. The outcome is a sculptural representation of a Supernova. The supernova itself is a symbol, just like the ouroboros, of the creation and destruction cycle that occurs in the cosmos. The violent death of a star, the destructive process, results in the transformative process of creating complex elements and expelling them out into the universe – like the transmutation of base metal into gold – leaving the potential for new stars and planets to form, and the potential for life. The resultant outcome is both Astronomy and Art.

Nicolescu, B. (2010) Transdisciplinarity leads to a new understanding of the relation between Subject and Object. [Diagram]. “Methodology of Transdisciplinarity – Levels of Reality, Logic of the Included Middle and Complexity” Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science, 1(1), December 2010, p. 19-38. [online] Available at: https://www.atlas-tjes.org/index.php/tjes/article/view/9/5 [Accessed 1 August 2026]