Antiplanet

Until commercial spaceflight becomes available, there are a few different things you can do. Most involve exceptionally long periods of time, so it’s best to set up your current surroundings, and you’ll adapt to the angle and motion naturally as you go about your day. I’ve gathered some things and gotten started: a toothbrush, a shoe, a lamp and a plant, laundry soap and a clean towel, a computer and coffee press, some fruit, a candle, dish sponge, orange juice, a carton of eggs, and a change of clothes.

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Jessica MacMillan’s multidisciplinary approach to sculpture and installation illustrates concepts within astronomy and their relationship to daily life. Geophysical orientation and readymades are reoccurring in her work, creating contextual links between the gallery space and the cosmos.

Antiplanet is an installation of household objects that have been recalibrated. Using the same equipment and techniques that are used for guiding telescopes, the nineteen kinetic sculptures in this installation have been aligned with the axis of the planet, and rotate at the same speed—but in the opposite direction. Counteracting the rotation of the planet, they become physically oriented to whichever deep-sky object they happen to face.

Jessica MacMillan (b. 1987, New Hampshire, USA) lives and works in Oslo. She holds an MFA in fine arts from the Academy of Fine Art, Oslo (2016), and a BFA in sculpture and art history from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston (2010). Currently, her work can also be seen in the group exhibition “Here and Not” at Atelier Nord ANX, Oslo, through June 25. In autumn 2017, she will be an artist-in-residence at the Skaftfell Center for Visual Art, Iceland, and in spring 2018 will have a solo exhibition at Galleri 54 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Antiplanet is supported by Arts Council Norway (Kulturrådet) and Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond (NBK).