“The heavenly motions are nothing but a continuous song for several voices (to be perceived by the intellect, not by the ear); a music which, through discordant tensions, through syncopations and cadenzas as it were (as used by men in emulation of these natural discords), progresses toward certain predesigned six-voiced cadences, and thereby sets landmarks in the immeasurable flow of time.”
For their project on the JKU campus, Anna Jermolaewa and Manfred Grübl used one of Johannes Kepler’s original drawings from his magnum opus Harmonice mundi (The Harmony of the World). The image was scaled up – to such a size that it could even be seen from the universe – and transferred to the main promenade along the pond. The lines applied to the floor with black road marking paint represent a stave and divide the surface into “orbital paths”. The six planets known in Kepler’s time (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury) and the moon are depicted on this stave and arranged to form a harmony. To the right, the lines continue but remain blank, leaving room for celestial bodies that are yet to be discovered.
Planetenorchester (Orchestra of the Planets) was realised as a joint project between BIG and Johannes Kepler University.