Eva Schlegel’s aim, when creating her installation for the campus of the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, was to combine both artistic and identity-forming aspects. She makes reference to the university’s eponym by translating Kepler’s three laws into a three-part mirror sculpture: A large elliptical mirror is attached to the underside of the external staircase in front of the library; a second forms the surface of a base sculpture below that doubles as seating; and a third elliptical orbit takes the form of a ring painted on the floor.
First law of Kepler: All planets move about the Sun in elliptical orbits, having the Sun as one of the foci.
Second law of Kepler: A radius vector joining any planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal lengths of time.
Third law of Kepler: The squares of the sidereal periods of the planets are directly proportional to the cubes (to the third power) of the semi-major axis of their orbits.
Visitors entering the installation become a part of it. Owing to the infinity mirror effect, the two-dimensionality appears to dissolve, thereby opening up an imaginary space and allowing the planetary orbit to be perceived spatially.