Glazial-Kosmogonie

Josée Pedneault

“Glazial-Kosmogonie” is a multi-element installation. The various images are not what they purport to be; they invite the viewer to question the nature of what they see. The installation combines photographs with extracts of historical materials to examine constructs of knowledge and truth. The project departs from the early twentieth-century pseudo-scientific World Ice Theory (Welteislehre), invented by Austrian engineer Hanns Hörbiger. The theory posits that most cosmic elements—the moon, stars, and planets—are composed of ice. Existing at the border of science, philosophy, cult, and art, Hörbiger’s proposal for a “new cosmic cultural history“ established an explanatory framework insulated against principles of scientific verifiability. Though roundly denounced by the scientific community, the World Ice Theory was enthusiastically embraced by the general public and endorsed by the Nazis. The theory’s trajectory reflects the catastrophic impact that systems of understanding wedded to notorious political ideologies exert on established paradigms.
(Josée Pedneault)