Cardboard sonotube, conduit, angle iron, coldworked parabolic glass, eyepiece, wheels, bolts, plywood, notebooks, inverted marking paint
96"x80"x96"
The Observers is a roving geodesic structure that houses an eight-inch Dobsonian telescope. It is inspired by astronomers’ notes and drawings that were made prior to the invention of photography. Viewers are encouraged to record what they experience in notebooks, climb onto the geodesic structure, and/or participate in the conversation about the happenings on site and beyond. The Observers can be experienced during the day and at night. We have looked to the night sky for many ages. Navigators use the stars to determine their direction. Astrologers look to the stars in anticipation of what the future may hold. Against the backdrop of our daily experiences, our interactions with people, objects, and structures are like a perturbing system of points. We can easily overlook the pattern of this array due to the quickened pace of our workaday routines. What can the slow and deliberate reveal in relation to the great constellation of the everyday?
image captured during cityDrift/Portland, Curated by Jenna Crowder, Thompsons Point and SPACE Gallery