Lewis Andrews
Wanderer
The ‘Wanderer’ series of photographs (first created as a result of my time on the ‘Ancient Materials’ arts-science virtual residency) attempts to visualise the ancient asteroids and comets of our early solar system. The residency theme brought to mind a chapter from ‘Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution’, written by Neil deGrasse Tyson & Donald Goldsmith. In this chapter, the possibilities of how the early asteroids of our solar system brought new elements and molecules (including water molecules in the form of ice) to early Earth are explored and may have a role to play in the kick-start of life on our planet.
Taking inspiration from this hypothesis, ‘Wanderer’ attempts to visualise those early travellers of the cosmos while simultaneously touching upon our connection through materials and atomic elements to the heavens. Through the use of found rocks on the surfaces which we walk up and down going about our everyday lives, the work concurrently connects ourselves and the planet to those ancient times as well as serves as a reminder that we are still deeply connected to the life cycles of the cosmos.
Wanderers
Drifter
Cosmic Dating Agency
"I Like to think atoms have a complicated love life when they met on a dust grain in the cosmos billions of years ago."
Cosmic Dating Agency takes a slightly comical take on the theory of atoms collecting together on dust grains in the cosmos to form different molecules. The atoms in our electronic devices we use to meet and match with other individuals were once a drift in the cosmos billions of years ago. Ejected from the cores of dying stars in vast quantities and collecting together within the interstellar medium to form new star systems, these atoms could be adrift for either millions or billions of years. It's theorised that dust grains and small rocks floating within this vacuum act as a perfect surface for floating atoms to collect upon and interact with other atoms to form molecules, even organic molecules.
Taking common phrases and emotions experienced in relationships between our species, Cosmic Dating Agency attempts to put a comical touch upon this process which may have contributed to valuable elements and molecules reaching early earth.