Thomas Ruff: Zycles & Cassini

For his more recent series, “Cassini”, Thomas Ruff likewise selected material from an astronomical archive, this time from the NASA. The title of the series refers to Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was the first astronomer to observe, in the 17th century, the 60 or so moons of the planet Saturn. The resulting images are distinguished by bright, strong colours and geometrical forms, their sheer aesthetic simplicity conveying a calmness and clarity that belie the technological complexity of their background.

“Zycles” is Thomas Ruff’s most recent group of works. This series constitutes yet a further step towards deconstructing the process of photographic production and reproduction and, like the “Cassini” images, has a scientific background: the circulating coloured lines on the large-formats are based on mathematical calculations. Ruff drew his inspiration for these images from 19th century copperplate engravings depicting electromagnetic fields.