Simon Starling
Transit Stones

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Artist Simon Starling(British, born 1967)British, born 1967

CultureBritish

Titles

Transit Stones

Date2012

MediumRoyal yellow and black Belgian marble

DimensionsEach disc: 51 diameter × 3/4 in. (129.5 × 1.9 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by contemporary@mfah 2012 and the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment

Object number2013.1.A,.B

Non exposé

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Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Object Type

SCULPTURE

DescriptionInspired by the 2012 Transit of Venus, when it was possible to see Venus’s orbit across the face of the sun, Starling created Transit Stones as part of a larger series devoted to the history of astronomy and attempts to measure the our solar system. Based on two time lapse photographs, Transit Stones captures the movement of a small, black orb (Venus) against the larger circumference of a golden disc (the sun). On the left Venus is a complete circle. However, as it reaches the margin of the second stone on the right, the black circle stretches to meet the edge. Called the “black drop effect,” this is an actual phenomena that can be observed even when two fingers are brought together but do not touch. For astronomers, from antiquity through the nineteen century, the “black drop effect” foiled all efforts to precisely calibrate the moment when Venus passes from the face of the sun. For Sterling, the indeterminacy introduced by this illusion is an eloquent metaphor for the limits of our knowledge and our ability to understand our place in the cosmos.

ProvenanceThe artist; [Galleria Franco Noero, Turin, Italy]; purchased by MFAH, 2013.

Exhibition History"Black Drop: Simon Starling," Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, Spring, Texas, June 13–August 3, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

none visible

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Simon Starling

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Karin Sander

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Woodchip Wallpaper Royal No. 82, edition 35/50

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Grave Stele

400–350 BC

Marble

2000.91

John Henry Belter

Étagère

1855

Rosewood and rosewood veneer; black walnut, mahogany, eastern white pine, yellow-poplar, undetermined exotic wood (possibly eucalyptus), marble, and mirrored glass

B.81.9.10