Widely regarded as the first science-fiction novel ever published, the Somnium by Johannes Kepler is a brilliant learning tool with which the German scientist was hoping to convince readers to embrace the Copernican doctrine. In the story Kepler submitted himself to a stimulating thought experiment: imagine how you would view the vault of heaven (and therefore the Earth) if you were viewing from the moon. This was 1593. More than four centuries later, science has achieved important discoveries, developing increasingly advanced technologies and equipment. What has not changed at all, probably, is the method that underlies all knowledge; careful observation. The challenge is to look at things with new eyes, embracing small details as if they are of essential importance for achieving a wider awareness. The search for new details and the integration of old and new technologies is the strength of “Kepler’s Dream“, the work of two brilliant German students at the University of Arts in Berlin, Ann-Katrin Krenz and Michael Burk. This is a sort of small globe, modelled with CINEMA 4D and made with a 3D printer that, inspired by Kepler’s platonic bodies, blends them to its surface. It’s suspended on an old overhead projector and can be freely rotated by visitors, projecting shapes of enlarged details on screens, creating a trio of games of shadows and projections that are entirely analogue. This is a concrete experience made with thanks to the generous support of the Goethe-Institut, which offers different views of topographically elaborate surfaces with hills, valleys, protrusions and geometric forms, both real and related to a process of computerized creation. Benedetta Sabatini

 

Kepler’s Dream, looking back to look forward