‘my hubble’ (the universe turned in on itself), 2010 by peter hennessey plywood, steel life -sized, dimensions variable image © designboom

australian artist peter hennessey‘s bold and intricately constructed large scale sculptures and multimedia works are imbued with both symbolic intensity and a sense of familiarity.

born from his fascination with scientific phenomena and popularised media generated events, ‘my hubble’ (the universe turned in on itself) debuts in the turbine hall of cockatoo island as part of the biennale of sydney 2010. it is a life size re-enactment of the hubble space telescope – a space based observatory that has revolutionised astronomy by providing deep and clear views of the universe. with the aim of giving the viewer a physical experience of the object, it is constructed from lasercut plywood and steel and simultaneously enacts the scale and detail of the original. in this instance the telescopic function is reversed and visitors are encouraged to play with,  modify and create their own mini universes on the ground, which are then reflected by the telescope into the heavens.

when creating his work hennessey looked at 7 different images of the hubble. rather than using 3D software to model individual parts as one might expect, he used adobe illustrator. the whole process took about 3 months – in which 6 weeks were dedicated to laser cutting individual parts and building them into sections and the rest of the time was dedicated to assembling ‘my hubble’ on the island.

peter hennessey: my hubble ‘my hubble’ – detail image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble looking up into ‘my hubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble the side view of  ‘my hubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble the side view of  ‘my hubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble ‘my hubble’ – detail image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble the view from above image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble ‘my hubble’ – detail image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble looking down into ‘my hubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble looking down into ‘my bubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble ‘my hubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble ‘my hubble’ image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble detail of my hubble image © designboom

peter hennessey: my hubble peter hennessey image © designboom

the project was assisted by arts victoria; gunnersen and new touch laser cutting.