The “”lounge”” portion of the “”Kachina Gallery and Lounge”” aptly describes the use of the space during the day. Through the glass, students can be caught studying, holding group meetings and napping curled up in the inadequately cushioned chairs, dead to the world.
This might prove a frustrating atmosphere in most art exhibitions, but the current show’s dreamlike pieces fit the bill elegantly.
The swirling nebulae and expansive galaxies sprawled across the walls create a commanding presence. Surrealistic vibrant blues and volatile fiery reds transport the viewer to another time, place and space.
The visions portrayed in “”Hubble Space Telescope: Vistas from the Pale Blue Dot”” would appear to be something straight out of the subconscious.
“”You imagine an artist had to have made it, but it’s out there,”” said astronomy professor Christopher Impey at the gallery’s opening reception on Oct. 22.
Made possible through the combined efforts of the optics, astronomy and art departments, the collection of large-format prints in high definition come from the Hubble Space Telescope archives. Curiously enough, the images are already owned by the public, since four billion taxpayer dollars have gone into funding the Hubble project since it began. However, most have not seen this particular result of their hard-earned wages.
Curator Aron Talenfeld’s exhibition provides a previously unexplored perspective; the viewer is allowed a glimpse at landscapes that are out of this world.
Each of the photographs is not only a snapshot of an unbelievable skyscape, but also a sliver of our universe’s past. It takes light centuries to travel these extraordinarily expansive distances; therefore, the farther out into space we can look, the further back in time we see.
“”The one question I keep getting is ‘Who’s the artist?'”” Talenfeld said, glancing at the murmuring audience. “”But it’s more science than art.””
The colors in the photographs represent the temperature and occasionally the chemistry of the formations they depict, so in a way, Talenfeld is right.
Despite all appearances, there is no fiction or fabrication in these images. They were captured by a telescope and not by a creative genius. Instead, the imagination unfolds on the viewer’s side of the lens.
“”Hubble Space Telescope: Vistas from the Pale Blue Dot””
Kachina Gallery, Student Union Memorial Center, 3rd Floor
Gallery Hours: M-F 6:30a.m. – 10:00p.m.
The exhibition runs through Dec. 3