
The One Day Projects book, And light followed the flight of sound..., is featured in the exhibition, In the Shadow of the Moon, at the Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College, Jan. 26-April 13, 2024.
Inspired by both the natural wonder and symbolic possibilities of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse, And light followed the flight of sound... collects works by 52 emergent and established photographic artists (see full artist list here) and an essay by Catherine Wilkins, Ph.D. The handmade accordian book features a foil stamp cover, mylar slip case, and enclosed saddle-stiched zine, and was edited, designed and produced in an edition of 150 (sold out) by Jared Ragland and Eliot Dudik. When the book is displayed in a circle, the accordion reveals a palindromic sequence of images and sculpturally resembles the star-like shape of the sun’s corona visible at the point of eclipse totality.
From the exhibition press release:
CONWAY, Arkansas—The Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College (WMA) on January 26, 2024, will open “In the Shadow of the Moon,” a dynamic, multi-media exhibition centered around humankind’s history and interest in the moon and space, to celebrate the upcoming total solar eclipse. Hendrix College and the central Arkansas region are in the path of totality for the April 8 eclipse, an event that will leave millions in North America awestruck.
Among the most spectacular visible natural phenomena — lightning storms, shooting stars, the aurora borealis — a solar eclipse seems to earn the greatest reverence, and with good reason.
“The star of ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ is the April 8, 2024, eclipse itself,” says curator Christian Cutler, director of the WMA. “This exhibition is both a celebration and a jumping off point. I hope visitors to ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ learn and reflect on humankind’s relationship to the Moon and the Sun.” Interpretations of Eclipses through History
Opening January 26 at 5 p.m., “In the Shadow of the Moon” will explore how different cultures have presented and interpreted solar eclipses in art. For instance, visitors will see eclipses portrayed as a dragon or a celestial wolf attempting to swallow the sun and included in the backdrop of European Renaissance crucifixion scenes to set a sorrowful or ominous tone.
The exhibition will also highlight the staying power of the solar eclipse as a worthy artistic subject. Science fiction illustrators, contemporary sculptors, and even video game designers incorporate eclipses into their work. Works by contemporary artists Tyler Nordgren, John W. Tomac, Lenka Konopasek, and Sarah Blood have been selected for the exhibition. “47 Rockets,” a mini-exhibit inside ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ by Nashville art duo Raina Belleau and Caleb Churchill, will explore history and folklore surrounding the moon with sculpture, video, and photography.
To provide historical context for the works of art, a collection of solar eclipse expedition artifacts will be on display, on loan from the James Lick Observatory in Mount Hamilton, California. Visitors can view scientific instruments, astronomers’ handwritten logbooks, and photographic plates made during expeditions in the late 1800s and early 1900s as far away as Chile, India, and the South Pacific.
The Windgate Museum of Art is the art museum located on the campus of Hendrix College. With a vision to be the premier teaching art museum in Arkansas, the Windgate presents outstanding art exhibitions, compelling educational programs, and invigorating social activities for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to campus. Free and open to all, the museum uses hands-on experiences to train students in all facets of museum work, including curatorial research, collection management, educational and social programming, marketing and communications, as well as all aspects of exhibition research, planning, installation, and evaluation. The Windgate Museum of Art is made possible with major support from the Windgate Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
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