The Litany (A Cosmochiral Fist)
2024
The word “chiral” comes from the greek word χείρ (kheir), meaning hand. We use handedness to describe the spirals of galaxies; we also use handedness to describe the structure of molecules. All life on Earth — meaning, all known life in the universe — exclusively uses left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars, for reasons yet unknown.
Hands are the bodily manifestation of chirality, our constant point of reference when categorizing these natural phenomena at both cosmic and microscopic scales. Hands are also the physical conduit of our will: the tools by which we manipulate and shape the outside world. We understand everything through our hands, figuratively and literally.
Our hands link us upwards to galaxies in the sky, downwards to molecules in the microscope, and outwards to our works in the world.
