Lucia Ayala
Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Abstract
The Universe in images: Iconography of the Plurality of Worlds
The idea of a plurality of worlds is one of the most inspiring and exciting aspects in astronomical tradition. Nevertheless, one crucial factor of its history has yet to be written: I propose to recompose the fascinating visual mosaic around the subject through the course of the last five centuries, in order to establish the basis for an iconography usually forgotten. By means of the presented visual universe it will be possible to approach the implications and socio-cultural significance of astronomy from an unconventional and creative point of view.
Astronomers such as William Herschel argued for a renewed vision of the cosmos, considering the existence of multiple similar inhabited systems. Nowadays, when the notion of the multi-universe has become an accepted term in the astrophysical vocabulary, the historical reflection on the subject acquires special relevance. I would like to invite the audience to look at the sky through a telescope provided with art historical lenses.
Biographical Details
Lucia Ayala has a BA in Art History and is a PhD candidate at the Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany) and Granada University (Spain) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Horst Bredekamp and Dr. D. Ignacio Henares Cuéllar. Her project is granted by DAAD and laCaixa Foundation. From a methodological intersection between science and art, she focuses her work on the visualization of the plurality of worlds from 17th century till today.
Her interests are concentrated on an art historical approach to science, specially focused on astronomy in 17th and 18th centuries, and on contemporary media art. She has an MA in Curatorial and Cultural Practices in Art and New Media (MECAD, Barcelona). She has worked as intern professor of Art History at Granada University, as director assistant of Media Centre of Art & Design (Barcelona), as member of the curatorial team of international projects (International exhibition Multimedia Images for a Complex World, Granada; Symposium New Media and Sociocultural Reality in Contemporary Audiovisual Creation, Granada). She is a regular author in the Colombian online magazine Elniuton.com. She participates frequently in conferences and festivals about art history and media art.