The Other Side of Blue: A Cyanometer for an Ecological Age

This talk explores the poetic potential of the cyanometer, a now defunct piece of scientific equipment from the Enlightenment. A device to measure the blueness of the sky, it was most famously adopted by Alexander Von Humboldt, who carried it with him on his many travels. A natural philosopher immersed in the scientific thinking of his time, his attitude centered the rational mind within the imagination. Drawing from this, I reflect on blueness, of the sky and of the emotions, and ask how the cyanometer can assist us today within the ecological crisis we are living through.