I took an astronomy class in college last year, so this one really appealed to my geeky nature. It has six cones that appear to spin (I believe it’s actually texture animation, as that can be started up and then it runs smoothly and automatically in the viewer); each of the cones has a different astronomical view. In front of the cones, there is a plane with six holes; you look through the holes to see the spinning cones, and you get the illusion of a rotating star field as you might see it through a telescope, except that the real ones don’t spin anywhere near as quickly. (The conic shape becomes nearly impossible to see when you’re looking at it straight on.) At a distance you can get the illusion that all six cones are really rotating star discs; up closer the angles throw off that effect, so you can only get that illusion for one or two cones at a time.
Viewing from the side and back are also interesting, though neither presents the same sort illusion of being something other that what it is. I didn’t perceive any great meaning here, just an attempt to present the beauty of celestial views and play with an illusion of perception. But that was enough.
In the picture the stargrid viewer is partially obscured by Juria’s latest installation, which appears to be unnamed. I didn’t feel that either piece was intended as a comment on the other; it’s just the sort of thing that happens occasionally in a crowded space like Brooklyn is Watching.