La perception de l’astronome

The stars we contemplate generate such a vast imagination that we wonder how such tiny points on the expanse of space can provoke all these reveries.

Both a representation of the cosmos and an image machine based on the model of the eye, Lucien Bitaux‘s La perception de l’astronome (The Astronomer’s Perception) invites us to observe the universe through the eyes of astronomers.

The observation space is made up of 12 optical instruments set in rotation and traversed by a video light source. The instruments used to observe the stars are set in gravitation and, through the interplay of reflections and deformations, interact to reveal the imperceptible. The distorting and magnifying lenses embody the cognitive and interpretative biases that distort reality. This new reality is then left to the viewer’s interpretation.

In La perception de l’astronome, Lucien Bitaux creates an infinite loop of observing and observed subjects, linking the unattainable cosmos and thought.

In pictures

La perception de l’astronome is produced by Chroniques, biennale des imaginaires numériques, with the support of the Vasarely Foundation and Le Fresnoy, studio national des arts contemporains.