Log indent

Site-sensitive installation and logbook, RCA SHOW, Royal College of Art, London, 2016

In Log indent, the history of celestial cartography, astromythology across the ancient ocean, and the person’s geo-location intersect. Knowing where you are is fundamental to knowing who you are. The light-sensitive process records a particular journey of the stars that despite their disappearance can still take us closer to the stellar moments that can direct our understanding of geographical location. Through stargazing, the mapping of the stars and location turns into a variation of blue ocean-like patterns.

The long-term exposure process was based on the astrometry of Argo Navis, a large constellation in the Classical sky taking over the southern hemisphere. Due to the force of precession, many of the stars of Argo have shifted farther or dimmed away in the present-day sky. Precisely timed and aligned, the work becomes visible evidence of the journey of the still-surviving and forever-missing presence of the constellation over 3 months when it was visible in London.

In the exhibition, Log indent is accompanied with a map and numerous bronze longitudinal markers which indicate the north-south axis in the exhibition space. The pair of dice determines the next possible moment in the sky which is constantly moving further away. The logbook documents the events and poetics related to the process of exposure, mapping of the lost stars and the epic journeys of both Jason and astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille.