Looking at Saturn (1610-2017)

2022

Fine art prints
Triptych, each 142 x 94 cm

In Looking at Saturn, I mapped the visual history of Saturn over the last centuries, starting with Galileo, who was the first astronomer to observe Saturn’s rings, to NASA’s Pioneer and Cassini spacecraft and their non-human eye.
This triptych represents digital assemblages in which I layered all images of Saturn I could get my hands on: the first ancient drawings depicting the planet with touching inaccuracy, engravings from antique astronomical books from my personal collection, to the most recent images from NASA archives.

How do four centuries play out in the life of a planet? On the cosmic timescale, it’s barely a speck of dust. And yet, what does the same time encompass to us, humans, who have been observing the celestial bodies for thousands of years? The way we are now capable of capturing the visual nature of the Universe reflects back to ourselves and the technological progress we made.
In Looking at Saturn, I continue my exploration of the photographic image and how it both, alternatively or at the same time, sharpens and distorts our perception of our reality.

(Installation shots by Radek Brousil)