Cristallisations: Genesis of a Hidden Order
Fondation d’entreprise Hermès in partnership with Centre Pompidou-Metz presents Cristallisations – Genesis of a Hidden Order, the second exhibition in a new series of shows at La Grande Place, Musée du Cristal Saint-Louis.
The exhibition forms part of the Foundation’s contemporary art programs at its four exhibition spaces across the world: Brussels, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo. Curated by a cultural institution in Loraine, France, the exhibition will be exploring the medium of glass and the professional craftsman skills of crystal making through a collection of works, documents and scientific films that takes a starting point in the emergence of structure from chaos and diffuse matter, balancing between chance and necessity.
Cristallisations – Genesis of a Hidden Order was inspired by a scientific-poetic text presented in 1611 as a New Year’s gift from German astronomer Johannes Kepler to his wealthy patron, a man that had everything but loved nothing. Kepler wrote:
“I am well aware how fond you are of Nothing. […] I can easily tell that a gift will be the more pleasing and welcome to you, the closer it comes to Nothing. […]
[…] I crossed over the bridge, mortified by my incivility at having appeared before you without a New Year’s gift […]
Just then, by a happy occurrence, some of the vapour in the air was gathered into snow by the force of the cold, and a few scattered flakes fell on my coat, all six cornered, with tufted radii.”
The text titled The New Year’s Gift, or The Six-Cornered Snowflake, goes on to describe the fascinating geometry of snow crystals and the sophisticated unique shapes generated by each snowflake as it falls, all from the starting point of a simple hexagon. As each hexagonal prism of ice falls to Earth, water vapour condenses on the points of the hexagon making it expand caused by infinite variations in the atmospheric conditions. As such, each snowflake, although starting with the same basic form, is shaped by its own journey taking a unique, unrepeatable form as six or twelve pointed star.
The artists brought together for the Cristallisations, including Ilana Halpering, Edith Dekyndt, François Génot, and Jean Painlevé, all have a similar inspiration as Kepler as their work explores the idea of a hidden order. Most of the artists also work with the concept of time including its duration, and its parallel existence to Nature.
Cristallisations – Genesis of a Hidden Order will be on display from Thursday 9 April – Monday 21 September 2015.
www.fondationdentreprisehermes.org
www.centrepompidou.fr
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