Crystalline Memories of Deep Time

What are the oldest materials we know of? With a palette of crystallized sulfur, enzymes, and meteorites, the exhibition explores the time before Earth’s formation and traces the earliest signs of life.

The journey begins before the solar system formed, when stardust from dying stars clumped together, later falling to Earth as meteorites. Crystalline Memories of Deep Time examines various meteorites and components from the primordial soup’s biochemical processes. Materials like sulfur, enzymes, and amino acids are transformed into images and presented on custom-built screens. The exhibition also delves into LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)—the concept of a single-celled organism as the last common ancestor—through 3-billion-year-old fossilized structures that testify to the earliest stages of life and the interconnectedness of all living things through deep time.

Claus Spangsberg creates captivating works at the intersection of art and science. In recent years, he has specialized in microscopy and crystallization, producing images with chemical substances, DNA, and amino acids.

The exhibition is supported by
Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond
Den Hielmstierne-Rosencroneske Stiftelse
Knud Højgaards Fond
Poul Johansen Fonden
Lizzi og Mogens Staal Fonden
OVODAN BIOTECH
Københavns Kommune – Rådet for Visuel Kunst