the observatory in the making

observation structures and sites of discovery

12 December 2009 – 23 January 2010

Opening on Saturday 12 December from 17:00 to 20:00

Chasing Light laser projection at 18:00

The gallery will be closed from 20 December, but the exhibition can be viewed again from 12 – 23 January 2010

Marcus Neustetter’s latest exhibition at GALLERY AOP pulls together various strands of the artist’s visual thinking. On show are a series of works that evolved from the work-in-progress sculptural installation at the Joburg Art Fair 2009, as well as various visual explorations of experiences in Sutherland in the Western Cape, which will culminate in his version of an ‘artist observatory’ to be constructed there.

His intention is to suggest, advance and produce in a playful way, site specific situations, models and structures, akin to, among other things, the drawing frames of such 15^th century artists as Alberti, Da Vinci and Dürer. These will serve as perspectives for observing, drawing and enabling a visual experience. Following Dürer’s example, Van Gogh also constructed one of these drawing frames and in a letter to his brother, made a sketch of himself using it. Sir John Herschel’s four foot telescope of around 1789 also served as inspiration for Neustetter’s models and constructions. Neustetter has always had a pre-occupation with mapping and drawing Google earth perspectives as well as mapping and drawing the night sky in an attempt to understand his own position between the city lights and the stars.

His intention to make sense of the reflections on the night skies has taken him to various locations in 2009. Neustetter’s explorations around the world have afforded him the opportunity to challenge his perceptions by means of on-site drawings and playful interventions in such diverse locations as the archaeological dig sites in Vela Spila (Croatia), the observatory in Sutherland, the Vredefort Dome meteorite impact crater south of Johannesburg, and in Norway, chasing the Aurora Borealis. His orientation, however, does not centre on a horizontal perspective rendering, but rather on a vertical one, looking up into the night sky and the stars, or down onto earth.

During his visits to Sutherland, Neustetter spends the nights working on glow-stick, laser and LED light installations that map constellations in the Karoo landscape, or drawing the space between the stars, much like artists were doing it before the camera was invented. While this activity has resulted in photographs and drawings, it has also encouraged him to look at structures such as observation decks and telescopes. Returning to his 16^th floor apartment in a high rise building in Johannesburg city centre, Neustetter often contemplates his spacial position and has been toying with the idea of an observation platform on a rooftop nearby.

Chasing Light is an intervention based on Neustetter’s recent excursion to Norway where he attempted to see the Northern Lights. Due to bad weather Neustetter was unable to fulfill his goal, leaving Norway with an experience lost. However, in collaboration with his travel partner James Webb, Neustetter was able to gather some relevant documentation from his search in the form of sound recordings, a series of photographs and drawings that depict his journey and search. From this foundation Neustetter attempts to re-visit his journey by extracting visual data from sound documentation through the manipulation of sound, water, laser-light, and drawing.

This projection was first presented at Outlet, Pretoria (October 2009) and recently featured at TEDx, Johannesburg