SEATTLE, WA.- The Seattle Art Fair announced an additional installation by legendary conceptual artist Chris Burden has been added to this year’s on-site programming. Presented by Gagosian, Burden’s 1983 work Scale Model of the Solar System invites fairgoers and the local Seattle community on a fun, artistic scavenger hunt around the city. The artwork will be on view during the fair’s run from August 2-5 at CenturyLink Field and beyond.

Burden’s Scale Model of the Solar System begins in Gagosian’s Booth #A09 at the Seattle Art Fair, where a model of the sun (13 inches in diameter) will hang from the ceiling. Using the scale of 1 inch : 4.2 trillion inches, display cases around the fair will contain three other planets—Mercury, Venus, and Earth—each in proportion to their actual size and arranged according to their proportional distance from one another in space. The other planets are positioned around the city, leading participants on a walking tour of Seattle, culminating almost a mile away at the Seattle Art Museum, where Pluto (which was still considered a planet in 1983) will be on display. The Gagosian booth will distribute a free map for Seattle Art Fair visitors to explore the solar system.

The site-specific installation joins the diverse program of daily talks, special projects, and performances curated by the Seattle Art Fair’s Artistic Director, Nato Thompson.

ARTIST STATEMENT
“A scale model, both in size and distance, of the solar system. The sun (865,000 miles in diameter) is represented by a sphere 13 inches in diameter and 40 inches in circumference. The planets of the solar system, constructed to the correct scale, are placed at the correct scale distance across the city. The distance from the sun varies from 36 feet for Mercury, the closest planet, to almost a mile away for Pluto, the farthest planet.” — Chris Burden

Burden’s Scale Model of the Solar System is part of Out of This World: Artists Explore Space, curated by Larry Gagosian at Seattle Art Fair Booth A09. The presentation gathers works involving artistic and scientific explorations of the cosmos, flight, and the unknown.