Created by Julian Oliver, The Closed World is comprised of a standard refractor telescope modified to present an entirely machine-generated, fictional cosmos. Fitted with a computer, sensors and lenses, it invites users to gaze upon a tiny high-resolution screen rather than the universe around it. Built to be presented only at night, the viewer is able to track and pan with the scope on its axis, as though looking at the real cosmos above.

The project is about truth in an age of machine-generated content. It takes a telescope – an instrument of truth – and intercepts the path of cosmic light with that of a simulated universe. It asks: Do we know enough about the cosmos we live in to be able to discern it from a computed simulation?

The project also seeks to draw attention to our darkening skies, whereby our view of the cosmos is increasingly obscured by the proliferation of satellites, space junk, air and light pollution; as we surround ourselves with machine mediated re-presentations, the detritus of civilisation closes us in.

Project Page | Julian Oliver

Cover Photo: A view looking into the lens of the telescope. Photo by Phoebe Mackenzie. The Closed World was commissioned for the Ada Symposium 2024, funded by Creative New Zealand with the support of the Wellington City Council.

via Neural