Above the Inversion Layer
Elleni Sclavenitis with David Kerlogot
Above the Inversion Layer
2012
video
8:21
Above the Inversion Layer contemplates the perceptual alchemy that is the trade of astronomers and artists alike, both seeking to reveal some heretofore unperceived knowledge through observation and photography. This single shot was recorded from the rotating catwalk of Mount Wilson Observatory's 100-year-old telescope. The video is set to Gustav Holst's The Planets, written in the same era as the telescope's construction. Here, the telescope becomes a means of observing the terrestrial landscape, while Holst's score evokes the celestial.