We are Star Dust

The stars of the milky way are our constant companions, their light reaches us, but they keep their distance. For thousands of years they have illustrated our stories. From the time of our birth some of us give them the power to hold our fate and foretell our future. But for most of us - they are just there.

An astronomer recently told me that our sun reverses it magnetic poles every 22 years, but each star flips it’s poles to it’s own schedule. 

In We are Star Dust, the pinpoint of starlight that pierces the dark night sky has been stretched it into a line–a graph that chronicle the star’s pole reversals. With these tangible histories suspended, we are able to walk among the stars of the milky way.

For this project I use the cardboard that is an almost invisible constant in our daily lives. I appreciate that this material is intensionally ephemeral carrying it’s own secret history - we can’t know where the fibres originated or how many times they have been recycled. The corrugations are waves hidden beneath the cardboard surface, just as most of the waves the stars send to us are hidden from our view. 

        We are Star Dust                site specific, 2019

• corrugated paper

• paint

• cotton sash cord

• nails 

photographs by Sophia Burke