{"id":44800,"date":"2025-09-19T09:18:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/?p=44800"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:21:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:21:41","slug":"basketballs-spider-webs-and-monoliths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/en\/basketballs-spider-webs-and-monoliths\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketballs, Spider Webs, and Monoliths"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>The Quantum Effect, SMAC San Marco Art Centre Venice, until November 23, 2025<\/h3>\n<p>In recent weeks, the exhibition <em>The Quantum Effect<\/em> opened in Venice at the new <strong>SMAC San Marco Art Centre<\/strong>. Curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies and produced by Officine Grandi Riparazioni Torino, the show explores the themes of quantum physics through the languages of science and contemporary art. The exhibition unfolds along two mirrored paths across sixteen rooms, evoking the concepts of symmetry, entanglement, and parallel universes. Works and installations on one side correspond to those on the other, woven into a film-like narrative that draws on both contemporary science and the universe of science fiction and pop culture.<\/p>\n<p>Framing and introducing the cinematic installations is a 1923 photograph by Man Ray \u201cdepicting Marcel Duchamp lying behind his first glass work.\u201dAmong the most notable works on view: One Ball 50\/50 Tank (Spalding Dr. J Silver Series) (1985) by Jeff Koons, created in collaboration with physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman; two works by Tom\u00e1s Saraceno from the Hybrid Webs series, featuring spider webs enclosed in display cases. For the spider, after all, the web is a way of organizing and perceiving space and time.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-44772 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Basket-161x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"161\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Basket-161x300.jpg 161w, https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Basket.jpg 209w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 161px) 100vw, 161px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-44775 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ragni-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"170\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ragni-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ragni.jpg 323w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 170px) 100vw, 170px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The works of American artist John McCracken evoke the enigmatic monolith from Stanley Kubrick\u2019s <em>2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em>. The artist described them as objects that might have been brought to Earth by a UFO. \u201cI want my sculptures to look as if they came from another dimension,\u201d McCracken declared. He began creating these works (Plank or Black Plank) in the same years Kubrick was working on his film (written with science fiction author and inventor Arthur C. Clarke), though no direct connection was ever confirmed. As<br \/>\nJacqui Davies explains, in 2020 a Utah forestry patrol helicopter discovered a three-meter metal pillar in a canyon, immediately described by some as a \u201cmonolith.\u201d New York gallerist David Zwirner, who exhibited McCracken\u2019s works, pointed out the resemblance to the artist\u2019s sculptures. It was never discovered exactly who placed the pillar there or why.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-44777\" src=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite1-147x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"172\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite1-147x300.jpg 147w, https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite1.jpg 206w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 172px) 100vw, 172px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">John McCracken, Planck, 1967<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-44779\" src=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite2-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite2-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite2.jpg 252w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The mysterious Utah pillar, 2020<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-44781\" src=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite3-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"394\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.observa.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Monolite3.jpg 439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 394px) 100vw, 394px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick, 1968<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition also features famous equations and reconstructions of real scientific experiments, including the double-slit experiment, which demonstrates the wave\u2013particle duality of matter. According to Feynman, \u201c\u2026it lies at the heart of quantum mechanics. In fact, it contains the only mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked co-curator Daniel Birnbaum whether this is an art exhibition or a scientific one. \u201cGood question. I think it\u2019s both\u2014a conversation between science and art on the themes of quantum physics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Massimiano Bucchi<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Quantum Effect, SMAC San Marco Art Centre Venice, until November 23, 2025 In recent weeks, the exhibition The Quantum Effect opened in Venice at the new SMAC San Marco Art Centre. Curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies and produced by Officine Grandi Riparazioni Torino, the show explores the themes of quantum physics through&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[488,836,475],"tags":[885,886,887,888],"class_list":["post-44800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-highlights-en","category-news","tag-art","tag-art-and-science","tag-exhibition","tag-venice","category-488","category-836","category-475","description-off"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Basketballs, Spider Webs, and Monoliths - Observa Science in Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.observa.it\/en\/basketballs-spider-webs-and-monoliths\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Basketballs, Spider Webs, and Monoliths - Observa Science in Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Quantum Effect, SMAC San Marco Art Centre Venice, until November 23, 2025 In recent weeks, the exhibition The Quantum Effect opened in Venice at the new SMAC San Marco Art Centre. 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