Unfolding the Universe: First Light | ONX Studio

How can an artist make beautiful work out of photos and data that are already beautiful in their own right? Especially if these are the awe-inspiring images of NASA’s James Webb Telescope. ONX Studio in partnership with the Onassis Foundation, NEW INC, and Mozilla Hubs, is pleased to present Unfolding the Universe: First Light. This is a solo exhibition by conceptual artist Ashley Zelinskie, curated by Maggie Masetti in cooperation with the James Webb Space Telescope team of scientists and engineers.

The exhibition features Zelinskie’s first VR artwork Unfolding the Universe: A NASA Webb VR Experience which includes animated sculpture and interactive portraiture of Webb team members. This work was created to commemorate the launch of Webb in December 2021 and has since been updated to include new elements reflecting the telescope’s “First Images” data released on July 12th.

Unfolding the Universe: First Light also features sculpture and installation inspired by Webb’s first images and created with the guidance of expert scientists in the corresponding fields. The work reflects everything from exoplanet spectroscopy and infrared image processing to Webb’s signature six-pointed stars.

The VR experience requires a desktop browser (including Firefox, Chrome, Edge) and is not compatible with mobile devices. No special Virtual Reality (VR) hardware is required, but if you do have such hardware, you can use it to experience the gallery virtually.