sourdough made of starstuff

PERFORMANCE / EXHIBITION

In the Satellite House at the Solar Observatory, a jar of living sourdough sits beneath the telescopes. In the 1960s, this building housed the U.S. Air Force’s satellite camera, keeping watch over orbiting satellites. Later, astronomers installed telescopes here to study the stars. Today, in the same room that once monitored military skies, a sourdough starter ferments quietly. One telescope turns inward instead of skyward, collapsing the distance between microbes and constellations, between earthly memory and the unknown. Living with fellow artists at the observatory, we break bread from this sourdough as we contemplate space.

The sourdough starter is from my brother and fed with Dala Landhvete flour from Aschim Vestre farm.

Still: Louise Rapley

Still: Louise Rapley

The Satellite House at the Harestua Solar Observatory.

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Part of The Sound of the Sun exhibition at the Solar Observatory.

The Sound of the Sun program is organized by Hedvig Biong, Jessica MacMillan, and Marius Moldvær in collaboration with Vegard Rekaa and Torstein Nybø of Solobservatoriet. The exhibition is generously supported by Akershus Fylkeskommune / Akershus County Municipality, ⁠Kulturrådet / Arts Council Norway, ⁠Kunstsentrene i Norge / Association of Norwegian Art Centers, and ⁠Norske Billedkunstnere / Norwegian Artists Association / Lunner and Gran Municipalities.