Josiah McElheny: Island Universe

Josiah McElheny’s Island Universe is a rare opportunity to examine both cutting-edge art and physics. The monumental installation of five hanging sculptures is a visual response to recent theories of the multiverse, an elaboration of the Big Bang theory. The installation is both visually stunning and carefully constructed according to measurement that map the history of time. 

The structures are modeled on the chandeliers of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, iconic midcentury design objects that were made in Vienna in 1965. That year, the first physical evidence for the Big Bang theory became public, launching popular interest in space science. Each of McElheny’s sculptures – made of chromed metal, transparent handblown glass, and lights – represents a potential universe whose dense origin expands outwards.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.