Aether

Aether brings together distinct histories of a term that has moved among mythology, natural philosophy, physics and medicine. In Greek cosmology, aither named the luminous upper sky; in Aristotelian natural philosophy, it was regarded as a fifth element associated with the celestial bodies. In the nineteenth century, the luminiferous ether was discussed as a hypothetical medium for the propagation of light, while diethyl ether entered medicine as an anaesthetic acting directly on the body, perception and consciousness.

A dark-blue, thread-like structure moves across a vibrating field of pink, blue and white. It loops, narrows and expands, at points condensing into translucent, almost membrane-like bodies. Its form recalls biomolecular chains or the trace of a DNA structure without becoming a scientific representation. Organic suggestion and atmospheric extension interlock; the line moves between bodily drawing, connection and freely guided gesture.

Aether brings the historical idea of a cosmic carrier medium into contact with a substance that alters perception and consciousness. The work examines how something withdrawn from direct observation may nevertheless become perceptible through effect, movement and relation. It holds immediate experience and what eludes perception within the same atmospheric field.