29Y05M10D — Sean Lyon

29Y05M10D
36°31'42.7"S 72°58'35.0"W
Casapoli, Tomé, Biobío Region, Chile

Nature is an infinite sphere of which the centre is everywhere, and the circumference nowhere.

Blaise Pascal

On the 14th of September 2019 I turned exactly 29 years, 5 months and 10 days old. This is precisely the amount of time it takes for the planet Saturn to make one complete orbit of our Sun. On this day I was undertaking a one-month residency at Casapoli — a remote and isolated house perched on the rocky cliffs of south Chile.

Situated at 36°31'42.7" south of the equator and peering west over the vast Pacific Ocean, Casapoli is witness to the most spectacular of night skies. At such latitudes the Earth is facing towards the centre of the disc of the Milky Way, where stars appear far denser and brighter in the sky than in more familiar northern latitudes. It truly is a sight to behold. Light pollution is low, skies are clear, and the horizon is wide. The occupiable roof calls to become a platform for star-gazing recreation, a pedestal for one to bear witness to the heavens, a plateau for quiet introspection, a plinth in celebration of the cosmos.

Matter tells space how to curve, and space directs matter how to move. So too a precisely calculated arrangement of found objects (matter) inform the user how to move across the field (space). Situated on the roof and exposed to the raw elements of southern Chile, the composition celebrates the moment of the return of Saturn to its particular position in the sky after one complete and deeply personal orbit. The story of that moment is narrated by the movement of the body through a space divorced from time — the meanderings of the visitor as they wander through the field frame exact views, trace long arcs across the sky and is invited to rest in particular poses that align the body — all to instigate moments of cosmic connection and appreciation.

The objects are found on-site: some placed by the architects themselves, others by workers and builders, and yet others by previous artists and makers. A coat hanger, a stool, some timber offcuts and most curiously — several lengths of 2cm×200cm cold-rolled steel strips. The installation is thus a manifestation of the material found within the site — nothing foreign is brought in and nothing is taken away — just as a photon is an excitation of the electromagnetic quantum field. A temporary arrangement, a compression wave, of the ever-dynamic forces and ideas enacted by visitors and residents of the house.

The installation tells four stories relating to the night of the 14th September 2019; the location on the horizon of the sunset; the great arc across the sky tracing the ecliptic upon which Saturn can be found; a separate arc representing the plane of the Milky Way galaxy and its centre; and a resting position aligned to the axis of the Earth's rotation about the stars.