Simon Starling
Transit Stones

Transit Stones

© Simon Starling

Transit Stones
Transit Stones
ArtistBritish, 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 Fund
Object number2013.1.A,.B
Not on view

Explore Further

Object Type
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
none visible

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Egyptian Dancer
Demétre Haralamb Chiparus
c. 1925
Bronze, paint, marble
2016.271
Black Drop
Simon Starling
2012
Single-channel video
2013.80
Danseuse au Thyrse (Dancer with thyrse)
Pierre Le Faguays
c. 1925
Bronze and marble
80.177
Wallpaper Piece
Karin Sander
1998
Woodchip Wallpaper Royal No. 82, edition 35/50
2011.676
Grave Stele
400–350 BC
Marble
2000.91
Étagère
John Henry Belter
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
Obelisk
c. 1850
Specimen and black marble
94.1162
Bone Rocker
Joris Laarman
2008
Black marble and resin
2009.507
Pair of Ear Ornaments (Kowari)
late 19th–early 20th century
Gold
2004.2375.1,.2
Thetis
William Henry Rinehart
c. 1861
Marble
96.1702