“Being a Chicago kid, I remember very distinctly the first time I saw the sky without street lights. I was on an island off of South Carolina with my parents. My father and I were lying out under the skies, and there were no streetlights on the island. It was the first time I saw the Milky Way. I think I should have known then that I was a scientist. “I have a strange relationship with the stars. When I look up into the sky, I feel upside down. I have that sense that ‘that’s not up.’ Like I’m falling into that midnight pool. I no longer think of the sky as up. I think of us as floating in space. We are in space. “I also think about the light touching my eye. That star could be seven light years away. It’s sending light to me. It could be a thousand light years away, but it’s sending me light. My eye got it, and absorbed it, and took it out of the world. But it touched my eye. So I have a visceral sense of being connected to that. As austere and unreciprocated my admiration is of the universe, I definitely feel that.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin gets deep in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. Photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
“Being a Chicago kid, I remember very distinctly the first time I saw the sky without street lights. I was on an island off of South Carolina with my parents. My father and I were lying out under the skies, and there were no streetlights on the island. It was the first time I saw the Milky Way. I think I should have known then that I was a scientist. “I have a strange relationship with the stars. When I look up into the sky, I feel upside down. I have that sense that ‘that’s not up.’ Like I’m falling into that midnight pool. I no longer think of the sky as up. I think of us as floating in space. We are in space. “I also think about the light touching my eye. That star could be seven light years away. It’s sending light to me. It could be a thousand light years away, but it’s sending me light. My eye got it, and absorbed it, and took it out of the world. But it touched my eye. So I have a visceral sense of being connected to that. As austere and unreciprocated my admiration is of the universe, I definitely feel that.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin gets deep in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. Photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
Repost from @davidzwirner • 🔊 SOUND ON to hear @JannaLevin on Sagittarius, one of the largest zodiac constellations of stars in the Southern Sky. Levin’s essay is one of four audio recordings developed for the exhibition Felix Gonzalez-Torres, on view at the gallery. Each recording is meant to help broaden engagement and encourage independent thinking, offering subjective and auxiliary content with unique perspectives. Levin’s essay is paired with Gonzalez-Torres’s work, “Untitled” (Sagitario), pictured above. This work was initially scheduled to debut at a significant one-person exhibition at CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux in 1995. For institutional reasons, the exhibition was rescheduled and ultimately never occurred. For the first time, the work has been realized as originally intended by the artist. Consisting of two twelve-foot diameter circular reflecting pools embedded in and level with the floor of the gallery space, the pools are positioned to be just touching, causing a nearly imperceptible exchange of water. Tap the link in our bio/stories to learn more about the exhibition, listen to Levin’s perspective in the full audio recording, and plan your visit to the gallery at 519, 525, and 533 West 19th Street. — Installation views, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, New York, New York, 2023 @FelixGonzalezTorres.Foundation #FelixGonzalezTorres #DavidZwirner #Sagittarius #JannaLevin #Astrology
“I did not always want to be a scientist. Even in college, I had very violent opinions about physics and what it was. I thought physicists memorized equations and built bombs, and that they were uncreative people, that it was not a creative field. It wasn’t until I was halfway through college that I discovered this subject that I knew nothing about. But once I got into physics, wow. “Before then, I had been a philosophy major. The idea that we would sit here and argue about ‘what Kant meant’ drove me out of my mind. We were discussing Kant’s mother and his town and I thought, How could this be true if it has to do with his mother? It drove me bananas. There was something about the power of understanding that when Einstein taught us E=mc2, nobody’s going, ‘What was his relationship with his mother?’ He taught it to us, and then it was ours. It belongs to absolutely anybody who wants to learn E=mc2. It is yours. It’s transcendent, and presumably it’s true in another galaxy, for an alien life form. You don’t have to even know it was Einstein who said it. Something about that cut me to the quick.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin on, well, black holes—plus, the end of the universe, and what she sees when she looks at the sky in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. As told to @bykatedwyer and photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
“I did not always want to be a scientist. Even in college, I had very violent opinions about physics and what it was. I thought physicists memorized equations and built bombs, and that they were uncreative people, that it was not a creative field. It wasn’t until I was halfway through college that I discovered this subject that I knew nothing about. But once I got into physics, wow. “Before then, I had been a philosophy major. The idea that we would sit here and argue about ‘what Kant meant’ drove me out of my mind. We were discussing Kant’s mother and his town and I thought, How could this be true if it has to do with his mother? It drove me bananas. There was something about the power of understanding that when Einstein taught us E=mc2, nobody’s going, ‘What was his relationship with his mother?’ He taught it to us, and then it was ours. It belongs to absolutely anybody who wants to learn E=mc2. It is yours. It’s transcendent, and presumably it’s true in another galaxy, for an alien life form. You don’t have to even know it was Einstein who said it. Something about that cut me to the quick.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin on, well, black holes—plus, the end of the universe, and what she sees when she looks at the sky in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. As told to @bykatedwyer and photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
“I did not always want to be a scientist. Even in college, I had very violent opinions about physics and what it was. I thought physicists memorized equations and built bombs, and that they were uncreative people, that it was not a creative field. It wasn’t until I was halfway through college that I discovered this subject that I knew nothing about. But once I got into physics, wow. “Before then, I had been a philosophy major. The idea that we would sit here and argue about ‘what Kant meant’ drove me out of my mind. We were discussing Kant’s mother and his town and I thought, How could this be true if it has to do with his mother? It drove me bananas. There was something about the power of understanding that when Einstein taught us E=mc2, nobody’s going, ‘What was his relationship with his mother?’ He taught it to us, and then it was ours. It belongs to absolutely anybody who wants to learn E=mc2. It is yours. It’s transcendent, and presumably it’s true in another galaxy, for an alien life form. You don’t have to even know it was Einstein who said it. Something about that cut me to the quick.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin on, well, black holes—plus, the end of the universe, and what she sees when she looks at the sky in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. As told to @bykatedwyer and photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
“We no longer think we’re at the center of the solar system. We understand the sun is. We understand that there are more solar systems out there. We understand that there might be life out there. For a minute, you can see yourself on this small planet and think, ‘What are we warring over? What are we doing? We all have this in common.’ “So I think that science has an incredible ability to give us glimpses of who we really are on this little bit of rock, and a moment to think about how absurd it is to be fighting across borders of two groups of people that share a common history, or at least share some commonality in their experience. Let alone people who are killing each other from around the world. It also reveals how precious life is and what’s important.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin on, well, black holes—plus, the end of the universe, in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. Photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
“We no longer think we’re at the center of the solar system. We understand the sun is. We understand that there are more solar systems out there. We understand that there might be life out there. For a minute, you can see yourself on this small planet and think, ‘What are we warring over? What are we doing? We all have this in common.’ “So I think that science has an incredible ability to give us glimpses of who we really are on this little bit of rock, and a moment to think about how absurd it is to be fighting across borders of two groups of people that share a common history, or at least share some commonality in their experience. Let alone people who are killing each other from around the world. It also reveals how precious life is and what’s important.” —— Astrophysicist and author of Black Hole Blues @jannalevin on, well, black holes—plus, the end of the universe, in our recent Conversation. It’s also featured in Gossamer Volume Eight: the Space issue, which is on newsstands and available to order now. Photographed by @langstonpalmer in Brooklyn.
Why should we care about a black hole 55 million light years away, or the origin of the universe, or dark matter? Astrophysicist @jannalevin explains what they can teach us about coming together to solve humanity’s most dire crises. 🪐Watch her full session at the link in bio.
Repost from @pioneerworks • Does infinity exist or is it just something we invented? How big is infinity? How small? How many infinities are there? Will there be an end or will time and space go on forever? What is our fate if the universe is infinite? And if finite, when will it all end? “A Trip to Infinity” is a new animated documentary exploring one of the most provocative questions in all of science and featuring an all-star cast of scientists—including PW Director of Sciences Janna Levin (@jannalevin)—as they hunt for evidence of infinity in the real world. Next Thursday, join us at Roxy Cinema (@roxycinemanyc) for a screening of the new documentary with and a post-film Q&A with Janna Levin, director Jon Halperin, and mathematician Steven Strogatz. The screening coincides with the publication of the new paperback edition of Levin’s book How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space. Following the screening, books will be available for purchase, and there will be a signing with the author.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
“Peering through cracks in the boarded up windows, they could sense the potential but not exactly the original glory of the mid-1800’s warehouse, the former Pioneer Iron Works. The abandoned building was sealed off from all natural light but was oddly full of little shacks, a multitude of silos, as though symbolically, as though begging to be torn down in favor of the vision of a new interwoven community.” As our tenth year comes to an end, PW Broadcast Editor-in-Chief Janna Levin (@jannalevin) offers a beautiful remembering of the origins of Pioneer Works—and a toast to the future of this “wild dream.” Read “Ten Years of Pioneer Works” now at the link in bio.
I’ve wanted to host this Scientific Controversies episode for a long time…wait for it…DOGS! How we love our dogs! How they love us! Dog researcher Alexandra Horowitz writes, “We are dog-human. And the magic is in that hyphen between us.” When the domestication of wolves in packs coexisting near human tribes began at least 10,000 years ago, the evolutionary course of both species was profoundly altered. We became dog-humans. On Tuesday, April 4th join me and my guest experts Brian Hare and Alexandra Horowitz in a discussion on the latest scientific research into dogs’ cognition, perception, behavior, and research that could profoundly transform our lives with our beloved canine companions. Free with RSVP: https://pioneerworks.org/programs/scientific-controversies-no-26-dogs @pioneerworks @alexandrahorowitz @dogcognition @barnardcollege #PWBroadcast #Dogs
Scientific Controversies: DOGS! My friend just happened to have such an angle on the talk that the dog portraits—courtesy my sister the veterinarian @drstacey — filled his field of view. Brian Hare looks to be part of the pack. We will release the full video soon on Pioneer Works Broadcast pioneerworks.org/Broadcast @pioneerworks @alexandrahorowitz @dogcognition #PioneerWorks #dogs #PWBroadcast
Scientific Controversies: DOGS! My friend just happened to have such an angle on the talk that the dog portraits—courtesy my sister the veterinarian @drstacey — filled his field of view. Brian Hare looks to be part of the pack. We will release the full video soon on Pioneer Works Broadcast pioneerworks.org/Broadcast @pioneerworks @alexandrahorowitz @dogcognition #PioneerWorks #dogs #PWBroadcast
Scientific Controversies: DOGS! My friend just happened to have such an angle on the talk that the dog portraits—courtesy my sister the veterinarian @drstacey — filled his field of view. Brian Hare looks to be part of the pack. We will release the full video soon on Pioneer Works Broadcast pioneerworks.org/Broadcast @pioneerworks @alexandrahorowitz @dogcognition #PioneerWorks #dogs #PWBroadcast
