HILTON | ASMUS CONTEMPORARY
  • H | A
  • home
    • about us
    • our team
    • contact us >
      • artist submissions
  • ARTISTS
    • artists
    • artists by list a-z
  • EXHIBITIONS
  • VIDEOS
  • HILTON | ASMUS LIVE
  • NEWS
    • press
  • DAVID YARROW OVR - Viewing Room

Updating a 2000-Year-Old Computer

1/20/2016

1 Comment

 
PictureGustave Daré illustration projected on the Field Museum during Rotelli installation
In 2016, the present longs for the past. The current art, music, and pop-culture climates are experiencing a nostalgic resurgence of bygone styles. Thanks to Instagram, square-format photography and faded filters dominate image making. Musicians are recording analog albums and releasing them on vinyl. Cinemas are once more showing films in 70mm. From fashion to fonts, cars to cameras, “vintage” is all the rage.

This nostalgic influence has appeared throughout history. Even in centuries past, artists and creators have always sought inspiration from their predecessors, particularly from ancient Greeks and Romans. 19th century illustrator Gustave Doré depicted Odysseus, Arachne, and the Greek isle of Patmos in his sinister monochrome prints. Doré also illustrated the works of Dante, including Inferno and Divine Comedy, ​with his signature style of evocative light and haunting shadow. In June of 2013, Hilton | Asmus artist Marco Nereo Rotelli utilized some of Doré's Inferno imagery during his sound and light installation at the Field Museum.

Picture"ART-ikythera Mechanism" by Terry Poulos
​Hilton | Asmus Contemporary is continuing the tradition of ancient inspiration with a series of exhibitions titled “Inspired by Antiquity.”  In concurrence with the Field Museum’s groundbreaking exhibition “The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander," Hilton | Asmus Contemporary is highlighting five modern artists whose work is inspired by antiquity. The gallery will host an “Evening With The Artist” each month through April 2016.
 
Our series begins on the evening of January 27th with artist, historian and compelling storyteller, Terry Poulos. Poulos will be presenting his sculpture titled “ART-ikythera Mechanism,” an artistic homage to the world’s first computer, the “Antikythera Mechanism.” Named after a Greek island near its underwater location of discovery, the Antikythera Mechanism is considered the world’s first computer.  The invention dates back to 205 BC and was used to predict eclipses, alignment of celestial objects, procession of the equinoxes, planetary movement, and optimal times and locations to host the ancient Olympic games. 

​Recent studies have suggested the mechanism originated in colonies of Corinth, an ancient city-state located on a stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesian Peninsula to Greece’s mainland. One of Corinth’s colonies, Syracuse, was home to the illustrious mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer, Archimedes. Though research is still underway, perhaps connections occur between the astronomical investigations of Archimedes and the development of the Antikythera Mechanism.
 
In 2012, BBC released a documentary entitled The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Computer presenting the history of the mechanism, including its unearthing from the bottom of the sea in 1901. 
​

​​Constructed of old, cast-iron farm implements, and a green patina evoking oxidized bronze, Poulos’ “ART-ikythera Mechanism” pays tribute to an example of historical brilliance in the field of technology and science.
 
Join us from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, January 27th as we listen to Poulos recount history, describe his creative process, and make us laugh with his quick wit and humor as he presents the “ART-ikythera Mechanism.” 


​Written by Lindsey Altongy
1 Comment

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    April 2020
    May 2019
    June 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed

Picture

Copyright © 2019-2020 Hilton-Asmus Contemporary, All Rights Reserved.
  • H | A
  • home
    • about us
    • our team
    • contact us >
      • artist submissions
  • ARTISTS
    • artists
    • artists by list a-z
  • EXHIBITIONS
  • VIDEOS
  • HILTON | ASMUS LIVE
  • NEWS
    • press
  • DAVID YARROW OVR - Viewing Room