The work takes its reference from an ancient astronomical technique discovered in Mexico. The "Ojo Estelar" (Starry Eye) is a technology used to study the movement of the stars by pre-Columbian cultures and has been detected by the self-run Community Museum of the Xico Valley in Chalco, on the outskirts of Mexico City.
Genaro Amaro Altamirano -director of the Museum-, together with an archaeologist, had found the tomb of an Aztec astronomer. Inside the tomb, there was a stone seat, and in front, a round basin. The place was used by the astronomer to study the night sky reflected in the basin filled with water. Unfortunately, the authorities sealed the tomb due to a lack of funds for restoration.
Involving the Museum in the production of a new prototype of "Ojo Estelares" this project aims to diffuse a discover that it is not possible to preserve. The prototype shape is based on Klein's bottle, an algebraic shape used in mathematics to describe the universe.
Elisa Strinna, A Hole in the Universe Ojo estelar prototype; The Sky Beyond Venice, print on satin paper, 70 x70 cm; at Galleria Massimodeluca, If I were You I’d call me Us, immersion of the Klein’s bottle (cement and iron, 43 x 48 x 17 cm); print on satin paper, 70 x 70 cm
Community Museum of the Xico Valley, The Sky Beholder; Ojo estelares prototype by the Community Museum of the Xico Valley in Chalco, 2015; The sky beholder, aztec statue collected in the Xico Museum;