Photographische Sternkarten (October 15, 1901) 15 - 1901

This is Photographische Sternkarten, made by Wolf and Palisa, in 1901. It’s a photographic star chart. A pretty interesting thing, because it’s science and art kind of crashing into each other. The little dots, all those stars, look almost like brushstrokes, don’t they? And the grid? It’s so ordered, like an Agnes Martin, but then you’ve got all these wild, chaotic splatters of stars. The longer you look, the more the stars seem to almost dance. See that one, in the middle of the grid? It’s slightly bigger than the others. I wonder, is that one more important? It reminds you that art is this conversation that stretches across time, people just adding their marks to what came before. In the end, maybe the real art is in the looking, in letting your mind wander through all the possibilities.