Domestic Astronomy

The exhibition’s point of departure is the first photo/visualisation of a black hole created in 2019. As a result, the image of the black hole became an extraordinary visual analogy of a boundless universe. The strange phenomena that occur in space force us to have a deeper understanding of basic conceptions of time, information, causality, necessity, contingency, and determinism. With the exhibition “Domestic Astronomy” artists open up about their cosmologies by analyzing and interpreting the alluring phenomenon of the visuality of space using analogue photography, photo collage, point cloud aesthetics, photogrammetry and other 3D techniques.

The artists seek to seamlessly blend notions of celestial mechanics with sensory experience. It’s not solely about referring to abstract concepts but also about embodying and feeling them. Artists manipulate everyday environments to turn them into unrecognizable playful astronomical objects. They dematerialize everyday familiar objects by modifying, interpreting and gamifying them. The exhibition installation consists of photographic collages with video projections. Home textiles and appliances, household utensils, plants and light sources are silent, crumbling, separating and connecting. Arrangements of books, vinyl records, past works and future plans rotate around their axis and turn over our heads. Depth becomes an inverted height, and every black surface is scratched by the expectation of whiteness.

“Domestic astronomy” offers a variety of familiar and strange scenarios for viewers to interact with. The exhibition accomplishes an intriguing Mise en scène between a cosmic body and the twofold artists’ inquisitive experience of the world and how it intertwines with the exhibition space.

About artists
Dalia Mikonytė (b. 1986) is an artist, photographer, and archivist whose work explores structures of sentiment, memory, and archiving. She works with photography, video, 3D media, and physical artifacts to investigate the relationship between materiality, technology, perception, and identity. Mikonytė holds BA and MA degrees in Photography and Media Art from the Vilnius Academy of Arts and a BA in History from Vilnius University. She is a member of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association and the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. Her solo exhibitions include Migle (2023) and bust (2020) was accompanied by artist books. She has participated in international residencies and exhibitions across Europe. Portfolio online: www.daliamikonyte.lt

Adomas Žudys (b. 1988) is currently DA (Doctorate of Arts) candidate at Vilnius Academy of Arts. Adomas main interests are crisis of imagination and conspiracy theories. Adomas Žudys is an artist working at the intersection of digital and physical artifacts. The artistic practice that he is developing focuses on old and well-known art forms collaged together with current technologies and worldviews. His subjects range between intimate space and time, personal and public experiences, identity and its representation, signs, magic, virtual and actual reality. Artist and researcher actively participates in exhibitions and events dedicated to interdisciplinary art in Lithuania and abroad. In 2017, the author was granted the status of art creator by the Republic of Lithuania. Portfolio online: www.zudys.lt

Marija Jociūtė (b. 1988) is a Vienna-based artist and composer. She has a master’s degree in art from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Since 2023 she has been studying electroacoustic and experimental music at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In her work, which is research-oriented, she uses different media and techniques to reflect on scientific data and scrutinise the limits of empirical approaches. By changing and deconstructing such material, Jociūtė plays on the potential of storytelling and new definitions. In her sound work, she intertwines synthesizer, drum machines, computers, and effects as well as her own voice to create multi-faceted electronic and yet organic pieces of music.

Lina Simutytė finished studies in cinema dramaturgy at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She began publishing her prose works in periodical cultural magazines and started working as a freelance screenwriter, playwright, and copywriter in 2013. Her debut book of short stories, Miesto šventė (“Town Festival”), was published in 2020 and won the Jurga Ivanauskaitė Prize for free, open, and bold creative expression, as well as the Young Artist Award of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. In 2025, Simutytė published her novel Raudonasis albumas (“The Red Album)”, which was included in the list of the twelve most creative books of the year in Lithuania and selected for “Book of the Year” nominations.

Her texts emphasize the links with cosmopolitan civilization, its diversity, and abundance. As an author, she works in the field of creative writing and is developing her own literary project Blunkanti sofa (“Fading Sofa”), investigating anxiety in the works of young artists and their personal experiences through interviews and performances.

Simutytė’s texts have been translated into English, German, Dutch, Georgian, Polish, Latvian, and other languages. She has received several scholarships from the Lithuanian Council for Culture and has participated in writing residencies at Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators in Sweden, Besiendershuis in Netherlands, Scanorama Shortcut in Iceland, the International Writers and Translators House in Latvia, Verpėjos in South Lithuania, and Kintai Arts.