Making patterns align Residents offer Sky tours
ANTARCTICA — A Santa Monica College professor is spending his winter break playing in the snow.
Astronomy Professor Dr. Simon Balm is busy flexing his left brain, serving as scientific adviser to a large scale art installation entitled “Stellar Axis” on the Antarctic Ice Shelf.
Headed by internationally acclaimed earth artist Lita Albuquerque, the project situated 99 blue fiberglass spheres on the ice to reflect a portion of the southern sky on the exact date of the winter solstice last month. Each of the 99 spheres reflected a star’s relative position in the sky.
It took the team — consisting of Albuquerque, Balm, two documentary filmmakers and a photographer — about five days to set the installation in place on the Ross Ice Shelf last month. On Dec. 22, the day of the solstice, about 50 people encircled the spheres, creating the image of a swirl.
The weather proved favorable for the team, with temperatures hovering around the freezing point.
The installation was dismantled soon after and Balm is now headed to New Zealand, where the weather will be warmer and the days shorter.
“This is an amazing opportunity to combine science and art in such a unique way,” said Balm.
Albuquerque, known as one of the pioneering earth artists, conceptualized the art installation from her research in archaeoastronomy, the study of ancient and traditional astronomy. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation.
“I am interested in creating a mental image of the patterns aligning,” said Albuquerque. “In a way, it is like taking a snapshot of a moment in time when the stars are aligned to the pattern on the ground, so that the ‘picture’ is an accurate picture of not just a planet floating in space, but a planet surrounded by a vast circulatory system of stars of which we are a part.”
Balm, who has worked on the project with Albuquerque for two years, was in charge of drawing maps and drilling holes in the ice to place the sphere so it aligns with the stars. The spheres ranged in size from 10 inches to four feet and the entire installation measured at least 400 in diameter.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 5, 2007. Read the original PDF.