ASTERISM
K R I S T I N A C H A N x K A A M N A P A T E L
Superstition is a natural refuge for people who are powerless. -Carl SAGAN
The heavens have been a natural refuge and safe haven for centuries and civilizations throughout history. When we look to the stars we look for discernible patterns, ordinances, and constellations that we believe provide grounding and direction. They tell us where we are and how to situate ourselves. We map the sky as it maps us, giving meaning to distance and promise of salvation. We impose recognizable images that sooth our sentiments and tame the skies. We look into the sublime and we see ourselves. But it is all we can do. See ourselves in the promise of infinity.
What would the hopes and fears and myths and aspirations of the 21st Century look like?
Asterism is a collection of screen printed mixed-media prints on Awagami Kozo Thick White Japanese paper are based on imagery sourced from the Hubble telescope, which were then recomposed and reproduced by hand as limited edition screen prints by the artists, and re-photographed. These final modern constellation maps have been produced as pigment prints on archival paper. The interplay between the ancient and and the modern, the traditional and the contemporary, both in concept and medium mimics the interplay utilized in the artist’s re-imaginings of contemporary culture’s constellations.
The use of screen print is a means of pushing back time and contextualizing today’s most advance imaging technology (the Hubble Telescope). By aging the present, we ask the viewer to our skies as if they have always been, to replace the constellations of old with those today, to usurp the authority of the past and rewrite the stars themselves. With the speed and technology of today, there is no time to seek the Northern Star or the Southern Cross. Instead, today we seek direction through market trends, pop culture, and breaking news. These new constellations reflect our society today in all its brevity, satire, beauty, and collapse.
Asterism is a collection of screen printed mixed-media prints on Awagami Kozo Thick White Japanese paper are based on imagery sourced from the Hubble telescope, which were then recomposed and reproduced by hand as limited edition screen prints by the artists, and re-photographed. These final modern constellation maps have been produced as pigment prints on archival paper. The interplay between the ancient and and the modern, the traditional and the contemporary, both in concept and medium mimics the interplay utilized in the artist’s re-imaginings of contemporary culture’s constellations.
The use of screen print is a means of pushing back time and contextualizing today’s most advance imaging technology (the Hubble Telescope). By aging the present, we ask the viewer to our skies as if they have always been, to replace the constellations of old with those today, to usurp the authority of the past and rewrite the stars themselves. With the speed and technology of today, there is no time to seek the Northern Star or the Southern Cross. Instead, today we seek direction through market trends, pop culture, and breaking news. These new constellations reflect our society today in all its brevity, satire, beauty, and collapse.
Project 88 Mumbai, India August 2016. Press
