Surface of Last Scattering, 2024, wood fired ceramic, 6.5 x 4 x 4 in. / 16.51 x 10.16 x 10.16 cm.

Surface of Last Scattering, Adele ODowd, 2024, wood fired ceramic, 6.5 x 4 x 4 in. / 16.51 x 10.16 x 10.16 cm.

surface of last scattering: just after the big bang, only opaque floating plasma soup of dark matter existed. Photons didn't yet exist. Eventually the soup cooled, light energy formed. surface of last scattering is the moment before translucency — the farthest we can see in space and time.