On Friday evening, Josiah McElheny was in Seattle to celebrate the opening of The Last Scattering Surface at the Henry. A very appreciative crowd turned out for the lecture he delivered at Kane Hall. During his talk, he discussed much of the work he has done in recent years, with a focus on his interest in modern science and the Big Bang.
He showed a few minutes of the film Conceptual Drawings for a Chandelier, 1965 (which is also on view at the Henry). This film features his inspiration for The Last Scattering Surface—the Lobmeyr chandeliers that hang in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
It was very interesting to see McElheny’s simple animated line drawings of the origins of the universe put into context with the dramatic images of the raising and lowering of the galaxy-like chandeliers. McElheny talked about how he initially thought that the chandeliers looked like a Pop image of the Big Bang, and he wondered how he might turn the idea into a sculpture. His collaboration with cosmologist David Weinberg led to the very scientifically precise work that is The Last Scattering Surface.
Some “big” concepts from the lecture:
- The universe has no center, and no edge
- Every viewpoint tells the story of our development
- The nature of matter is like porridge—the individual differences are why we exist
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