Jane Brucker Studio

This is a detail showing two bottles of domestic dust and one bottle of unknown space dust from last year’s exhibition “Crossing Over: Art and Science at Caltech, 1920–2020.” Read more about Brucker’s work as part of Getty’s PST ART (Pacific Standard Time). Her installation “Time Stream” featured seven diorama-like vignettes in the historic Gates Annex Chemistry Library at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. This one, “Five Dust Bottles + Archive Bottle,” was embedded into the bookcase with the light changing from light to dark blue at the rate of human breathing.

“Dust-to-dust” etched on the smallest bottle gives meaning to the ashes it contains. All five bottles together represent the desire to find remedies for devastating disease.

Brucker’s work emulates the activity of scientists in the practice of collecting samples. The sole “unlabeled bottle” from the Caltech Archives sparkles with a mysterious and unknown substance.

See more of Brucker’s work from the exhibition: janebrucker.com/projects/time

Caltech Library Getty Archive

Photograph by Gene Ogami.

Earlier this week, Jane Brucker moderated “The Poetics of Machine Learning,” a public conversation between University of Bonn researchers and PLUTO resident artist Gonzalo Reyes Araos. As PLUTO - galerie PLUTO co-founder with Director, Dr. Jeremy Wasser, Brucker facilitated an interdisciplinary dialogue at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn inspired by Reyes Araos’ work.

“The TRA Individuals, Institutions and Societies bridges the gaps between the fields of law, theologies, philosophy, economics, psychology, sociology, medicine and other disciplines, conducting research projects on ethics, digitalization/AI, social cohesion and other key issues of our time.” Text source: uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-4-individuals/tra-4-start?set_language=en

Image: Gonzalo Reyes Araos, delivering a lecture in front of an image of the Milky Way. The photo on the screen was taken by Reyes Araos, as he observes it from his home in the Atacama Desert, Chile.

Tomorrow at University of Bonn:

As co-founder of galerie PLUTO, Jane Brucker will be moderating a public lecture & discussion:

“The Poetics of Machine Learning”
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
6.00 – 8.00 p.m. CEST (s.t.)
Hörsaal I, Universitätshauptgebäude, Am Hof 1, 53111 Bonn

As part of his residency at galerie PLUTO, artist Gonzalo Reyes Araos engaged with University of Bonn researchers in an interdisciplinary dialogue during the past year. Coordinated with Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) Individuals, Institutions and Societies of the University of Bonn, this research-based creative exchange will culminate in a public lecture and discussion called “The Poetics of Machine Learning.” In conversation, Reyes Araos and the five University of Bonn researchers will present artworks by Reyes Araos and research on topics ranging from visual culture, globalization and technology, personality psychology, linguistics, human imagination, and more. The event is free and open to the public.

Image: Gonzalo Reyes Araos, “Clouds 09” archival pigment print, 40 cm x 50 cm, 2025.