About the Artwork

This installation is a model for the latest idea I am working on within my '00 Scale' series. It is an electric orrery and ,as such, describes astronomical phenomena in terms of electro-dynamics and the charge field.

At the Centre of our Milky Way galaxy is a mysterious object called Sagittarius A* West, around which orbit a cluster of stars with high orbital velocities. The fastest of these is a star called ‘S4716’ after which the installation is named.

Displayed in the tanker wagons is a sequence of infra-red images that locate the changes in position of this star as it orbits the galactic core. In the spirit of Bayesian dialectic I have included its anti-star rotating in the opposite direction and with inverted colour.

The accepted theory of why the stars in this cluster are orbiting so fast is through the gravitational influence of a black hole. However, in this instance and, as we are within an electro-dynamic theoretical environment, we have to search for a more relevant explanation.

Drawing from Astronaut Don Petit’s experiment on the International Space Station; using a changed knitting needle and drops of water from a syringe, we can see that orbits (including fast ones!) can be generated electro-magnetically.

According to General Relativity a black hole can only exist in an asymptotically flat* universe. Therefore there can never be more than one in any universe and certainly one generated from a big bang.

Hidden on the 'legs' of the orrery (and attached to the wood knots) are the names of nebula that can be found in the vicinity of this phenomenon.

*tending towards flatness

Click to view installation movie          | Click to view onboard movie

 

                Full view of the installation (click to expand)