My artwork is titled “Varying Space”. This is because in each section of my piece, a varying depiction and understanding of the universe is portrayed. My artwork is a collage, with the main focus being on space, and our understanding of it throughout history. This is why I placed a photo of space as the background. In my piece there is also a contrast between the old and the new, the old Newtonian model of the universe, and the modern day Einsteinian model of the universe.
In the top left-hand corner, a photo of Kepler is placed along with a photo of his model of the universe which is based on the Platonic solids. Kepler, using Galileo’s previously invented telescope, discovered the planetary motions of the planets, and attempted to show that the planets existed according to perfect geometry. His model was incorrect though, and his incorrect model serves as an example of the old, Newtonian model of the universe which saw the cosmos as ordered and harmonious.
Below Kepler is a photo of Newton and an apple tree. This is meant to show the famous scene when an apple falls on Newton’s head, and when he first meditates on the reason why things fall, which leads his to develop the theory of gravity. Next to Newton is a depiction of the light spectrum, because this is another of his theories, and like gravity, it also served as a further understanding of our universe. Next to Newton is a telescope, because he improved Galileo’s invention of the telescope by creating a reflecting telescope which used mirrors and light to form an image for the viewer of what lay above earth. Coming out of this telescope is Earth, Mars, and the Sun, because the use of this telescope (also known as an optic telescope) gave scientists the opportunity to learn more about the planets, and later allowed for the more modern understanding of our universe. Therefore, this depiction of the planets coming out of the telescope represents a progression from the old Newtonian view of the universe, to the current Einsteinian model of the universe.
On the right side of the artwork, there is a photo of Einstein because he is responsible for the discovery of the current model of the universe which is based on his general theory of relativity. Next to him are images that depict some of concepts of general relativity. For example there is an image of earth on a geometric model of space, and earth is scene seen to bend the fabric of space. This bending of space-time is correlated to the motion of planets in space, and therefore also helps to explain how gravity functions. Above that model is another model showing the theory of general relativity, which shows the depiction of time as the same and part of space itself (also known as space-time). There is also a photo of a black hole because the general theory of relativity was able to predict when black holes would occur based on the mass and radius of a given object. Lastly there is a picture of a clock which spirals in on itself. This clock is meant to mimic how the orbits of the planets moved, since in Einstein’s new model, planets were seen to move in spiral orbits rather than in a simple closed elliptic shape. This clock also reinforces the idea that time and space are the same thing, since the spiral shapes of orbits is also part of space.