Distant Orbits

2016 and 2018. Hand crushed ferrite magnets, linen thread, rare earth magnets, colour projections, 3-channel HD video 9:45 minutes.

Distant Orbits is a site-responsive installation developed during a residency at Penrith Regional Gallery, undertaken in dialogue with astronomer Dr Andrew O’Brien (Western Sydney University). The work unfolds as a weblike structure of linen thread held in tension by small magnetic clusters, forming points of convergence and dispersion throughout space. The installation is composed of multiple nodes, where threads gather and cross, producing a distributed field of relations. Swapping the force of gravity for magnetism, the work draws on models of the universe in which dark matter forms filament-like structures, pulling matter into clusters across vast distances. Light and projection contribute to the spatial experience, casting shadows that echo and flatten the structure, suggesting alternate ways of perceiving the field. The work shifts between conditions of distance and proximity, where the viewer encounters either a contained environment or an immersive spatial field, depending on its iteration. The title is drawn from the poem When Years Take the Stars Away by Carol Jenkins, from her book Fishing in the Devonian (2008).