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Abandoning Light (signed)

by Chloe Bartram

Publisher: Self- Published

56 pages

Year: 2023

ISBN: 978-0-646-87681-8

Price: 49 €

Comments: First edition of 100 copies. Soft cover with singer sewn bind, 30 x 24 cm. Signed and numbered.

Just as the stars move through an existence, so too do we. Perhaps it is because we are made from star dust. But the celestial bodies above us are not alive in the same way we are. They are not birthed, nor is their death final. They are changing, expanding, and unfolding structures of matter that are explained by scientific and physical laws. Science may dabble in metaphor, but the focus is on data analysis and objective testing. To consider ourselves star dust and to make sense of our existence in this way is symbolic.

To look at the sun is destruction, eyesight obscured by fuzzy little lines and dots, but not blindness. Derived from the Greek word ‘to abandon’, the meaning of ‘eclipse’ can extend beyond the literal sense of the moon passing between the sun and the earth. Preconceived notions and ideas of the past can also be eclipsed.

The moon’s shadow, moving across the surface of the sun, prompts trepidation and reverence. The thin sickle of the sun, still seen, known as the solar corona, gives the appearance of something mystical, a large form spreading its wings ready to take flight.

The eclipse darkens, yet it also allows us to see; when the Moon’s shadow blocks all direct sunlight, we can see the stars during the day.

In the day the stars breathe in. At night they breathe out.

As we observe the heavens, full of questions, perhaps the answers are at our feet.

In 1922 a total solar eclipse was seen in Western Australia. This capturing of starlight verified Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. One hundred years later a total solar eclipse returns to Australia. This book pays homage to these events. It is about the stars, the land and our place within them. It's also about finding comfort in the dark, something I've home within during the last few years.

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