Census-Takers of the Sky

“Every night sky so nearly identical, oh, the antidote to wakeful fretful nights, it’s waning, it’s losing power,” writes Constance DeJong in her digital project “Nightwriters,” recently published by Triple Canopy. For Census-Takers of the Sky, DeJong will animate “Nightwriters,” in which an insomniac traces the night through her skylight, through a performance and conversation. The protagonist records encounters with revenant women astronomers. They include Annie Jump Cannon, known as the “census-taker of the sky,” who classified three hundred stars an hour at her viewing station at Harvard’s Observatory from 1896 to 1939. For these observers, a pen becomes an object of space travel. In a time when technology envisions life primarily as a “prospect of outer space,” DeJong notes, writing the “biography of space locates us in the past, in old old light.”

Census-Takers of the Sky and “Nightwriters” are part of Active Recollections, a series in which artists, writers, and researchers trace histories that are obscured, partially erased, or seemingly unassimilable.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to ensure that events are accessible and comfortable, we’ll open the doors at 6:30 p.m. and strictly limit admittance to our legal capacity. Please check Triple Canopy’s Facebook and Twitter accounts for updates, as we’ll indicate if events are sold out.

Triple Canopy’s venue is located at 264 Canal Street, 3W, near several Canal Street subway stations. Our floor is accessible by elevator (63" × 60" car, 31" door) and stairway. Due to the age and other characteristics of the building, our bathrooms are not ADA-accessible, though several such bathrooms are located nearby. If you have specific questions about access, please write at least three days before the event and we will make every effort to accommodate you.