Event 1: Cosmological Elements

Cosmological Events

On Friday April 21st, I attended the event Cosmological Elements, an exhibition that showcased projects from many artists centering cosmological themes. It was initiated by Angel An and curated by Claudia Schnugg and Iris Long.

Schnugg described cosmology as the "study of the world", an area of study that unites the disciplines of science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, nature and beliefs. 

Much like Brunelleschi, each artist used a variety of art forms, from displaying the elements of the earth to using "invisible light" or UV to generate images, all to tell a story of the cosmological elements that demonstrate their connection to us. 

I was specially drawn to two of the exhibits, the first of which was Daniela Brill Estrada's Celestial Bodies, which she used to highlight the presence of natural elements in the human body. She classified and displayed multiple elements in jars to illustrate that all people and things are born of the same collisions of stars. This was not only an idea of lyrical beauty, but it also demonstrated the fundamental intersections across nature and philosophy by highlighting our origins and solidified the necessity for multi-disciplinary approaches to studying the observed world. 


Celestial Bodies: Daniela Brill Estrada

The second project that I was inspired by was Anna Hoetjes' Morning Star, which is a layered patchwork that uses symbolism to illustrate components of cultural history from which space science was derived. It includes multiple depictions such as orbits that relate the movements of celestial bodies to our bodies, and the moment that a superpressure bloom bursts in space. This multifaceted approach to space science highlights the interconnectedness of the two cultures C.P. snow first differentiated between, and demonstrates that even though the superficial communication between the arts and sciences have ceased, their cosmological connection cannot be erased- it is quite literally "written in the stars". 


Morning Star: Anna Hoetjes


I throughly enjoyed the exhibition and highly encourage anybody interested to browse their website: https://cosmoselements.art/


Proof of Attendance/ Registration Confirmation:

Registration Confirmation




A Comment I Made
Works Cited:

An, A., Schnugg, C., & Long, I. (n.d.). Cosmological elements. Cosmological Elements. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://cosmoselements.art/ 

Edgerton, Samuel Y. “Brunelleschi's Mirror, Alberti's Window, and Galileo's 'Perspective Tube'.” História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, vol. 13, no. suppl, 2006, pp. 151–179., https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-59702006000500010.

Snow, C. P. (Charles Percy), 1905-1980. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York :Cambridge University Press, 1959.


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