ISLAND/UNIVERSE

perched 2400m above the Atlantic ocean, surrounded by utter darkness, the observing site at the European Northern Observatory on La Palma offers astronomers some of the best views of the night sky on Earth. every evening, the various telescopes there unveil and activate their advanced optics to begin tracking the stars – imaging hazy nebulas, distant galaxies and far-off worlds. located on the westernmost of the Canary Islands, the facility is perched high along the rim of an ancient volcanic caldera, far above clouds that drift towards the coast of Africa. silent and remote, it is truly a world apart – an island at the edge of the Universe

for one of our early large-scale projects, super/collider invited photographer John Hooper and filmmaker Mike Moloney to visit La Palma and capture this unique and otherworldly installation. beyond the towering peak, they explored wind-swept landscapes, misty forests, shimmering tarmac and quietly humming telescope control rooms – once leading-edge but now empty and obsolete

the combination of images, short films and found objects that make up ISLAND/UNIVERSE are a record of that trip – a glimpse at the surreal side of a facility that is advancing our knowledge of the cosmos

ISLAND/UNIVERSE opened at central London gallery So Far, The Future in July 2011. the film is below while a print of the MAGIC telescope is available as a limited edition C-type print from our shop