About this Event
RAS Public Talk - Anna Von Mertens - October
This October, join us at The Royal Astronomical Society for an exciting public talk by the renowned artist Anna Von Mertens. Explore the intersection of art and astronomy as Anna shares her unique perspective on the cosmos. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insight into the universe through the eyes of a talented artist. Secure your spot now!
Visual artist and author Anna Von Mertens offers a layered portrait of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt who worked at the Harvard College Observatory at the turn of the 20th century and whose discovery is foundational to modern cosmology. Von Mertens will speak to the reverberations of Leavitt’s groundbreaking discovery, her creative methodologies, and the cultural context surrounding her work, as well as how appreciating Leavitt’s skill at attention helped Von Mertens cultivate her own. Looking—truly seeing—is an active and inventive process, which requires constant reimagining, relevant to both scientific and artistic practices. Von Mertens’s talk will be illustrated with a wealth of imagery: details of artworks the artist made in response to Leavitt's legacy; examples of the glass plate photographs of the night sky Leavitt studied; and historic photos of the unique community of women, now known as the Harvard Computers, who worked alongside Leavitt. Please join us for this lecture celebrating the significance of Henrietta Leavitt’s discovery and the richness of its inheritance.
Our speaker
Visual artist and author Anna Von Mertens is the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Public Understanding of Science and Technology book grant in support of Attention Is Discovery: The Life and Legacy of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, published by the MIT Press in 2024. The book is an expansion of Von Mertens’s 2018-2019 exhibition at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, which traveled to the University Galleries of Illinois State University and Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in 2023. She received a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she studied dark matter as a structuring force in our universe, and a United States Artists Fellowship in Visual Arts. Her labor-intensive artworks use material intelligence as a lens to see science and history and have been widely exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Berkeley Art Museum; RISD Museum; Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery; Aspen Art Museum; Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, and National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design in Oslo, Norway. The artist is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Royal Astronomical Society, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00