Black holes have long fascinated both scientists and the general public, capturing imaginations with their mysterious nature. Once considered mere theoretical constructs, black holes have since inspired a myriad of artists worldwide, as sampled in the anthology Conjuring the Void: The Art of Black Holes.
Author Lynn Gamwell, who boasts a decade-long tenure as director of the New York Academy of Science’s Gallery of Art and Science and an extensive background in the intersection of math, art, and science, was a fitting choice to speak at Harvard's interdisciplinary Black Hole Initiative conference a few years prior. Her focus on black-hole-themed art in that talk eventually led to the creation of Conjuring the Void.
“I was astounded at the abundance of art centered on black holes, with a particular intrigue in Asian art,” Gamwell shared with Ars. “There is something about black holes that connects deeply with Eastern traditions. Numerous themes associated with black holes, such as void, nothingness, and inescapability, echo in the philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism.”
The book begins with a chronological overview of significant scientific milestones related to black holes, starting from Isaac Newton and John Mitchell's 1783 notion of 'dark stars,' progressing through Albert Einstein’s groundbreaking predictions encompassed in the general theory of relativity, and highlighting Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs like the LIGO collaboration's 2016 detection of gravitational waves and the Event Horizon Telescope's inaugural image of a black hole in 2019. This scientific backdrop provides a framework for exploring the expansive array of black-hole-inspired art Gamwell discovered, traversing from early 20th-century depictions to modern contemporary pieces.