A new exhibition of photographic works by artist Lita Albuqurque opened Saturday at Los Angeles’ Kohn Gallery. The photographs document Albuqurque’s 2006 land art installation, Stellar Axis, on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. A video of the installation and documentation process screens in an adjacent gallery.

From the exhibition statement:

With the help of NSF astronomer Simon Balm, Albuquerque created a star map of the ninety-nine brightest stars and their constellations visible at the South Pole during the four-week stay, creating a reverse sky onto the ice. She deployed ninety-nine ultramarine blue fiberglass spheres of varying diameters positioned on the ice, from ten inches to four feet, to represent the relative magnitude of the stars. The project imaginatively links the stars through both poles as a shaft of light aligned with the rotational axis of the Earth, creating a double helix that is a metaphor for the conveyance of information—a kind of stellar DNA.

Stellar Axis was the first large-scale artwork created in Antarctica. Considered a milestone of contemporary Land Art, the installation was regarded as both a stunning and ecologically sensitive intervention on the continent. The project received international acclaim. A full exhibition of the photographs, film, objects and archive materials related to this project are on view at the Nevada Museum of Art until January 4th 2015 and the USC Fisher Museum of Art will host Albuquerque in 2016 for an exhibition featuring performance, film, writing and photographs relating to the project.

Light Carries Information is on view until December 20.