Good morning to all! This is my first flash newsletter! Please, be forgiving. The next ones will learn from the mistakes in this one.
Today, we focus on a contemporary art fair in Miami and the upcoming launch of the James Webb telescope, a most anticipated event that will significantly improve our views of the universe!
Thank you for reading. Bernard
Miami - Untitled Art
Untitled Art is an international contemporary art fair celebrating its 10th anniversary on the sands of Miami Beach!! It is still considered a young venue compared to Art Basel, FIAC, etc. Yet, it is quite engaging, celebrating local talents with a mix of Latino, Haitian and imported Brooklyn talents. Enjoy what artsy thinks about it and the pictures below.
I was quite taken by Nora Maite Nieves paintings, a Brooklyn-based Puerto-Rican artist, particularly her Music of the Constellation, an allegoric representation of the conflicts in a family.
I was also impressed by the work of Sylvia Maier, a native New Yorker known for her portraits of Brooklyn neighbors.
Eduard Moreno was also noteworthy for his reflections on miners as victims of the current colonial and economic systems. They are black and exploited, like the coal they themselves exploit.
Let’s not forget LA-based June Edmonds and her mastery of color palettes.
The James Webb telescope
The James Webb telescope (JWST) to be launched on December 22 is a 100 times more powerful for looking at galaxies than its Hubble predecessor. Based on infrared technology, JWST can detect light much further away, as it redshifts into infrared. As such, the Webb will see the light emitted by galaxies and stars much earlier than previously seen. JWST will give us access to unseen parts of the universe, hidden stars and planets, and might help us observe the formation of galaxies.
As a reminder, our universe created (this time!) around 13.8 billions years ago contains several hundred billion galaxies (like our Milky Way) , each containing several hundred billions stars (like our planets). All of this is so incredible to our human mind. Can you believe that a small vibration like a ray of light can last billions of years without being destroyed? Well, the $10 billion JWST will be positioned about 1.5 million kms from earth and will see light emitted as early as 13.7 billion years ago, a mere 100 million years after the Big bang formed our current universe x.0. and when the early stars and galaxies formed. Actually, even before our own galaxy formed.
The telescope is an incredibly complex engineering feat. To quote a key engineer on the subject, “It has to be big, in space, and half of it has to be super cold. This means we had to design it to fold up for the ride into space, then have it unfold flawlessly by remote control. It also requires that we build the cold optics part exactly wrong, in gravity and air at room temperature, so that it will be exactly right—the right size and shape—when it’s weightless in the vacuum of space operating at temperatures so cold that air turns solid…”. Also, its has a circular mirror, 21 feet in diameter, which has to stay perfectly rigid for image accuracy.
Good luck JWST! You will be an incredible Christmas present to humanity!!
Photo Goodie: St Tropez
