Space is the place

Black holes, dark matter, nebu­lae, exoplan­ets, grav­it­a­tional waves, the Big Bang, the multi­verse… The count­less cosmic objects and phenom­ena that make up our universe are sources of inspir­a­tion for liter­at­ure, music, visual and perform­ing arts… Design is no excep­tion to this fascin­a­tion.

Since the dawn of human­ity, the universe has been an inex­haust­ible source of wonder. What is our place in this immense expanse of space, whose origins date back 13.8 billion light years ? How did cosmic evol­u­tion unfold ? Are we alone ? Why does the universe exist ?

Cosmos, an exhib­i­tion produced and presen­ted in 2021 and 2022 at the CID – Grand Hornu in Belgium, unveils the work of design­ers who have, in concep­tual, tech­nical or poetic ways, ques­tioned the archi­tec­ture of the universe and the hidden laws of phys­ics that govern it. From Einstein’s theory of relativ­ity to quantum theory, from grav­ity to the nature of space and time, from the micro to the macro, the modern image of the cosmos is embod­ied in vari­ous design and archi­tec­tural projects that take us far beyond its scientific roots, bear­ing witness to its myster­ies and beauty.

An install­a­tion of Simone Fehlinger

Based on the hypo­thesis that the earth has been trans­formed into a video install­a­tion, a tele­vi­sion studio and a design studio, New Weather TV looks at the produc­tion, broad­cast­ing and recep­tion of weather report images and the modern fictions they embed in our every­day real­it­ies – fictions that evoke our envir­on­ment as an external, calcul­able, exploit­able and control­lable object, and that cling to the image of nation states.

Venue : Arcade 14, Plate­forme 10
Free admis­sion

An install­a­tion of Stéfane Perraud and Aram Kebab­djian

Hystérésia is an open-air sound install­a­tion that receives the resid­ual waves from 31 “zombie” satel­lites – satel­lites that have been decom­mis­sioned, moved into grave­yard orbits but continue to broad­cast. The install­a­tion broad­casts live the songs that are created from their signals, telling the story of these celes­tial ruins and reveal­ing their ghostly pres­ence. The install­a­tion works autonom­ously, but can also be activ­ated during read­ings, perform­ances or DJ sets.

Venue : patio of the mudac-Photo Elysée build­ing
Free admis­sion
For people with reduced mobil­ity, please ask at recep­tion for access to the patio