UNIVERSAL SYMPATHY
UNIVERSAL SYMPATHY
CREDITS
Greek philosopher Plato wrote that when a person died, their soul rose to the night sky, becoming part of the stars. Glasgow-based photographer Alan Knox scattered the ashes of his grandfather onto photographic paper in his series Universal Sympathy, making them appear to be stars in the universe, reconnecting the remains of the dead with the origin of all life. The ashes create different patterns, all on a deep black background, such as galaxies and what look like asteroid belts. Knox references NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft – which carried the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, past the ex-planet – and with his work hopes to further contextualise the ongoing tradition of viewing the cosmic landscape as a final resting place for the dead.
