Catalyst to Go at Concord Art 

A Moon Conversation with Sharon Harper and Yaray Ku

Concord Art 
April 10, 2019, 7 – 8pm
Doors at 6:30pm
37 Lexington Road, Concord, MA 

Catalyst to Go brings Catalyst Conversations' unique perspective on the intersection of art and science to communities outside of metro Boston. This Catalyst To Go event was part of the programming for The Moon: Eternal Pearl on view March 28 – May 1, 2019. Ticket sales supported the work of Concord Art.

The fifth largest moon in the solar system, Earth's moon is the only place beyond Earth where humans have set foot. The brightest and largest object in our night sky, the moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years. nasa.gov 
 
We earth dwellers are always in relationship to the moon. In Sharon Harper’s multiple-exposure photographs from the series Moon Studies and Star Scratches, the camera maps a relationship between the movement of the earth, the photographer and the camera. These images are an attempt to record a realm we can hardly fathom, but within a framework of time we can readily understand, bringing the human scale into relationship with the cosmic. For Yaray Ku it is important to understand the formation of our Moon since the same formation scenario is likely to occur very often in the early solar system. The leading hypothesis, The Giant Impact, fulfills many physical constraints on the Moon size, angular momentum, and small lunar core. However, in terms of isotopes, there are a lot of unsolved problems to explain the similarity between Earth and Moon given that the latter is expected to have different isotopic composition from the Earth. Ku’s research measures the isotopic composition of both Earth and Moon. Harper and Ku will present their particular projects and discuss with each other how they in their respective fields, explore meaning from observation of phenomena on and beyond the Earth (the Moon) and how meaning is brought back to this sphere.

Since its founding in 1917, Concord Art has promoted and advanced contemporary art through exhibitions, lectures, workshops and classes. It also maintains a small permanent collection of art produced by leading early 20th century artists.  Free and open to  the public. Gallery hours are Tuesday–Saturday 10:00am–4:30pm; Sunday 12:00pm–4:00pm.  www.concordart.org   

Supported by: The Whitehead Foundation

Image credit: Sharon Harper
Moon Studies and Star Scratches, No. 4 (detail)
June - September 2004
Saratoga Springs, New York; Middlesex, Vermont;
Johnson, Vermont; Eden Mills, Vermont; Greensboro, North Carolina
Digital c print from 8x10 transparency, 40” x 50”