what if we could look ourselves up in a parallel universe? what if we could predict our future using DNA? what if we could build a particle accelerator at home? UK-based designer Patrick Stevenson-Keating creates projects which not only solve problems, but ask questions. for Milan Design Week, we teamed up with him to create the world’s first handcrafted glass particle accelerator read more
wallpaper
slowly built up using tiny pieces of wallpaper before painting, David Wightman’s painstakingly-created canvases show a strange greyscale world of mountains, rocks and glaciers cut through by striking colour rivers. taking kitsch mountain scenes as their starting point, the fifteen works now on show at Halcyon Gallery transform traditional landscapes into something starker and altogether more foreboding
plumes
delicate and highly detailed studies of the flora and fauna of the Pacific islands provide the inspiration for Carlos Noronha Feio’s latest work, now showing at IMT Gallery. Plant Life of the Pacific World is a series of gracefully collaged photos of nuclear explosions, alluringly echoing the forms of the natural world as classified by American botanist E.D. Merrill’s book from which the exhibition takes its name. the book’s dry classification of plant forms is transformed by Noronha Feio into an explosive revelry of intense, amoebic forms bursting forth as deadly chain reactions
ornithology
with spring just around the corner and migratory birds returning north, this timely lunchtime lecture at The Royal Society looks at Francis Willughby – the man who basically invented ornithology. Professor Tim Birkhead FRS will explore how he and John Ray produced the landmark publication The Ornithology of Francis Willughby in the mid 1600s, which set the scene for future studies of birds, fish and insects
image: plate 42 of Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting the Orchard Oriole
mathématiques
from artists like David Lynch and Patti Smith to mathematicians like Cédric Villani and Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Mathematics: A Beautiful Elsewhere is a true meeting of minds at the Fondation Cartier in Paris read more
guest post: a new physics?
with all the recent talk about faster-than-light particles, we thought it timely to bring you selected excerpts from physicist Ben Still’s Neutrino Blog looking at how such speeds might be possible, what that means for physics and how we might have seen this all once before read more
ISLAND/UNIVERSE
situated nearly 2400m above the surrounding ocean, the telescopes of the European Northern Observatory on La Palma offer astronomers some of the best night-sky views on earth. every evening, their giant optics open and begin tracking the sky, imaging hazy nebulas and distant galaxies. located on the western-most of the Canary Islands, the facility is perched on the rim of an ancient volcanic caldera, high above clouds that drift towards the coast of Africa. silent and remote, it is truly a world apart read more
worlds in the making
turning away from the star that has inspired much of their previous work, film/art duo Semiconductor’s first major UK solo show at FACT in Liverpool looks at the volcanic processes that have shaped the earth from within. the main work is projected over three screens, juxtaposing the work of the Instituto Geofisico Volcano Observatory in Tungurahua, Ecuador alongside stunning videos of the volcanoes and animations of crystals growing deep below the ground
bursts
if you missed Katie Paterson‘s 100 Billion Suns in Venice there’s another chance to see it at Constellations in Manchester, where a canon will fire 3261 pieces of confetti whose colours correspond to specific gamma ray bursts – the brightest explosions in the universe. for us non-Mancunians, July 4 is a good day to go thanks to a screening and Q&A exploring the special effects that went into creating Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Universe
breath
opening today at London’s Sumarria Lunn Gallery, David Rickard’s Time+Trace centres on Exhaust – a 24-hour experiment during which the artist collected his exhaled air for an entire day in a series of foil bags. other science-leaning works include mediations on constellations and pigeon droppings, random chance and, in Stored Capacity #1, the transmutation of lead into gold on heavily-laden shelves
kosmica
plenty of cosmic happenings next week, starting with Nelly Ben Hayoun and Nahum Mantra’s ongoing Kosmica series at The Arts Catalyst with guests like Dr Jill Stuart, Alicia Framis and Jem Finer – artist in residence in the astrophysics department at Oxford University. next up, Science Fair™ drops by The Amwell Street Knocking Shop for a night of vintage shopping, astronomy, film and badge-making. and finally, if you’re up super early (or out super late) look out for a clutch of planets in the morning sky
infinity
the strange land between science fact and science fiction has produced some the most inspiring ideas, images and imaginings yet seen, which is why the British Library’s new Out of This World season has got us freaking out. combining far-out legends like Alan Moore and George Clinton with serious real life business like tonight’s ‘Fixing the Planet: Have we Finally got some Concrete Options?’ it’s science meets fiction uptown, in a library!
surface
opening today at Saville Row’s Hauser & Wirth gallery, Matthew Day Jackson’s new show features coloured skulls, re-covered LIFE magazines, a repurposed B-29 and this work: a long, panelled landscape based on a Mercator map that replicates the moon’s surface through laser etching on drywall
volcano
you might know recent RCA graduate Nelly Ben Hayoun from her immersive, science-leaning installations – which range from Super K inspired tunnels to a chair that recreates the launch of a Soyuz rocket. now, working with explosives designer Austin Houlsdworth and in consultation with volcanologist Dr. Carina Fearnley from UCL, she’s only gone and created a volcano that slowly spews smoke and debris into your living room. ‘The Other Volcano’ is currently on show at East London’s Space In Between gallery and will later and will also be part of the Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference later this year
yuri
fifty years ago tomorrow Major Yuri Gagarin became the first human to leave the earth below and fly into space, orbiting the planet once in his Vostok-1 capsule for 108 minutes before parachuting down in the Saratov region of Russia to be greeted by confused locals. the launch of Chris Riley’s First Orbit promises to be among the highlights of the anniversary, which reminds us that although our progress into space sometimes seems to move at a glacial pace, it’s only been fifty short years since the voyage began
chromo
created and designed by the highly-talented William Rowe of Protein® fame, the Chromo™ colour system tracks daily and lunar cycles through the use of beautiful, vivid colours. building on this, their 2011 calendar takes the lunar positions for the whole year and maps them out using a CMYK colour fade. it’s plastified, so feel free to drool away at its niceness (and enter our competition to win one!) over on super/reader
cloudspotting
entitled Cosmolology + 1, Peter Coffin’s new show at Herald St starts with the premise that “if cosmology is the study of the universe (from the Greek cosm-, universe, order + -logy, systematic study of), then cosmolology is the systematic study of the study of the universe, and +1 perhaps the study of the study of the study of the universe.” the result is an installation of floor-to-ceiling neon lights, photographs of clouds alluding to a 19th century method for Photoshoping skies onto landscapes, and this rather random but lovely doorway full of vines
_Peter Coffin, Cosmolology + 1, Installation view, 2011, Herald St, London. Courtesy of Herald St, London
luminous
at its brightest, the full moon reaches an apparent magnitude of –12.92, casting shadows and illuminating the ground here on earth. fitting then, that East London’s lovely Luminous Books is celebrating this weekend’s full moon – known in folklore as the Hunter Moon – with an evening of rare books, lunar maps, art by Nahoko Kudo and, of course, hula hooping
_cover detail from The Moon In Focus by Thomas Rackham, courtesy of Luminous Books
altitude
just a quick one this week as we’re sending this from the top of a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, in the Canaries. we’re at the European Northern Observatory high above the clouds, where some of the world’s most advanced telescopes are based, to shoot a film as part of the 24 Hours, Here series. after a disastrous first night in which high winds claimed our camera (!) we’re heading back to the summit now to try again tonight. you can see more pictures and follow our progress here
_the Gran Telescopio Canarias at sunset
canopy
in Werner Herzog’s 2004 documentary The White Diamond, we are introduced to Dr Graham Dorrington – a London-based aeronautical engineer who builds airships to explore the ethereal canopy layer high above the world’s tropical rainforests. we caught up with Graham over on the reader this week to chat all things aerial ahead of the Treetop Odyssey event at the ICA this weekend
_the various strata of a typical forest
impact
another week, another crater. but unlike the volcanic one in last week’s post, Barringer Crater in Arizona was formed when a 50m nickel-iron meteorite careened into it at up to 20km per second. if you missed Science Fair™ on Monday, there’s another chance to hear about such impacts from Dr Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, as part of the Royal Albert Hall’s Close Encounters series, which also includes screenings of Alien and Barbarella, plus plenty of crater-making fun for the little ones
_Barringer Crater, Arizona / image: United States Geological Survey
crater
Frieze week may have seen the opening of a new exhibition by the legendary light/sky/space/land artist James Turrell at Gagosian London, but the agonising wait for his long-term Roden Crater piece goes on. set inside an extinct volcano in Arizona, the mysterious installation could finally open next year, offering the chance to see Turrell’s imagination at work on a grand scale. in the meantime, you can always check out spy pictures and learn more about craters (the meteoric, not volcanic kind) at Science Fair™ on Monday
_Bindu Shards (Perceptual Cell) at Gagosian © 2010 James Turrell / photo credit: Florian Holzherr/Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery
_© 2010 James Turrell / photo credit: Florian Holzherr/Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery
_© 2010 James Turrell / photo credit: Florian Holzherr/Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery
_image: US Geological Survey
ten
once every hundred years, there is a day you can write out as 10/10/10. in the 21st century, that day falls this Sunday, and to mark the occasion Eames Office will be celebrating Charles and Ray Eames’s classic Powers of Ten with screenings, events and the launch of a new website and educational initiative. originally released in 1977, the short film (below) puts things in perspective by zooming out from a picnicking couple in Chicago to the outer fringes of the known universe…
_ten
cosmos
thirty years ago this week the American public broadcaster PBS aired the first episode of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, an epic and somewhat new age journey into time, space and science – from ancient civilisations to the last days of a dying earth, billions of years from now
to celebrate, we gave away a DVD boxset of the series. the question was ‘which spacecraft is Carl standing next to?’ and the answer is a replica lander from the Viking program to explore Mars – or as Kim Plowright so eloquently put it: “that is, I believe, a prototype model of the Viking 1 Lander Mars Probe, designation 1975-075C, innit. As Viking 1 has alternate names of Viking-B Lander, Viking Lander 1, Thomas Mutch Memorial Station and 09024, I’ll hazard a guess that the prototype might have been called Viking-A lander.” thanks to all who entered and congratulations to our winner, Pam Newall
_image: Carl Sagan in Death Valley / JPL
maps
on now at Matt’s Gallery in east East London, Alison Turnbull’s Observatory show takes starcharts, graph paper and the architectural plans for Thomas Jefferson’s observatory as starting points. painstakingly recreating pages from Czech astronomer Antonín Bečvář’s sky atlases, Sea the Stars and Observatory are masterfully hand-painted reminders of an era before digital sky mapping, when artists and astronomers alike relied on the connection between our eyes and the stars
_detail from Observatory, 2010. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 150x180cm
_detail from Observatory, 2010. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 150x180cm
disappearer
strange goings on in the atmosphere high above Jupiter of late, with ghostly flashes and disappearing clouds spotted by amateur astronomers in recent weeks. it all began in June, when a small bright spot appeared briefly in the clouds. another followed in August, which professional and amateur astronomers have now identified as comets or meteors hitting the gas giant – the first such impacts ever observed. meanwhile, one of the famous planet-wide storm belts that ring the planet has suddenly faded, leaving Jupiter looking markedly different. when – and whether – it reappears remains a mystery
_images by amateur astronomers Anthony Wesley (left) and Masayuki Tachikawa (right)
renewables
following on from his Light After Dark series, which captured softly-glowing coal stations running through the night, photographer Toby Smith has turned his lens on renewable energy infrastructure – starting with hydroelectric facilities like the 305MW Foyers plant shown here. now on show at The Print Space in London, Toby hopes to continue and expand The Renewables Project to cover other forms of cleaner power and the strange places and machines that make it possible
_Foyers Turbine Shaft by Toby Smith
transit
Turner Prize-winning artist Wolfgang Tillmans’ long-term interest in astronomy led him to photograph the 2004 transit of Venus (pictured), a twice-in-a-lifetime event that next happens in 2012 – and then not again until 2117! as part of a retrospective of his work at Serpentine Gallery, Tillmans and Professor Dimitar Sasselov of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative will be in conversation next Friday as part of a night of astronomy in the park. you can read our interview with Professor Sasselov on Dazed Digital
image: Venus, transit 2004 C-type print 40.6 × 30.5 cm / Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. this work has been rotated 90° to avoid cropping
cultures
fifty years on from his famous two cultures speech, British scientist and novelist CP Snow would be pleasantly surprised to pick up Art + Science Now, a hefty tome covering the increasing crossover between science and various fields of art. on Tuesday 13 July, the book’s author Professor Stephen Wilson and featured artist Gina Czarnecki will be our guests at Science Fair™ – a special collaboration with our pals at The Arts Catalyst
_‘Species Reclamation’ by Brandon Ballengée
craft
early this morning, Japan’s Akatsuki space probe blasted off from Tanegashima Island, bound for Venus. its serious mission is to study the climate and atmosphere of our cosmic neighbour, but this being the Japanese space agency, they’ve also created some ultra-cute anime characters and a DIY paper model to get people involved (here’s one we made earlier). to celebrate the successful launch, we want you to get crafty and create your own customised Akatsuki. just download our blank cut-out pattern, design your own exterior, then send us your results in the next two weeks. our favourite will win a copy of Mikhail Marov and David Grinspoons’ epic 464-page book about Venus
_T+Cs: the prize is one copy of The Planet Venus (£50 RRP), described as ‘Used – Very Good ex-Library copy’. all entries should consist of a photo of your space probe (3MB max) and be received by 03/06/2010. winner will be chosen at our discretion.
summit
opening this weekend at Somerset House, new graphic art fair Pick Me Up is a veritable who’s who of art and illustration – including stuff from our pals at Nous Vous and Peepshow, like this cosmic piece by Miles Donovan. check out their online shop to see the full image…
_‘Arctic’ by Miles Donovan
soviet
nearing the end of its run at the Nottingham Contemporary gallery, Star City is an exploration of the future under Communism, combining Eastern Block art from the 60s and 70s with more modern and Western pieces. the exhibition also includes artifacts like propaganda posters, a life-size replica of a Sputnik, Soviet space food, a collection of Polish space toys and even a giant walk-through sculpture inspired by Valentina Tereshkova’s spacesuit
_Jane & Louise Wilson, Star City, 2000. Projection. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York
polar
vast, white, frozen and forbidding, the Arctic and Antarctic hold endless fascination for artists and explorers – but are also the ideal setting for some of the latest research in physics, astronomy and climate change. join us for a special (and free!) Science Fair™ on Monday as we discuss the polar regions of the earth in terms of art, culture and science. our guests will be Nicola Triscott of the Arts Catalyst’s Arctic Perspectives Initiative and New Scientist journalist Anil Ananthaswamy, whose forthcoming book The Edge of Physics took him to Antarctica to visit cutting-edge physics experiments and meet the people behind them
_image: a photograph of the snow surface at Dome C Station, Antarctica by Stephen Hudson
rotation
as part of this year’s If You Could project, filmmaker Michael Moloney and photographer John Hooper spent 24 hours on a hill in the Lake District called Pavey Ark. their stunning 720° panorama starts with the last light of day fading, rotates with the earth as the moon rises and, with Orion finally dropping beyond the hill as the sun rises, continues into the daytime. throughout the night planes and stars traverse the sky, as camera flashes illuminate the landscape, transforming the film from a Koyaanisqatsi-like timelapse into something very special
_still from 24 Hours, Pavey Ark
launch
forty years ago this afternoon, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Canaveral to deliver Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon. the video below breaks down the ignition sequence in minute detail, and if you’re at your computer at 1:26pm you can watch the launch ‘live’ as seen on TV back in 1969. the anniversary celebrations reach a peak this weekend, with a lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society, the BFI’s ongoing One Giant Leap Season and a special performance of Brian Eno’s ‘Apollo’ at the Science Museum. as well as the actual moonwalk anniversary, Monday sees the release of Moonfire, a massive new Taschen book with pictures that even space nerds like us haven’t seen
__early spacesuit prototype, from Moonfire © Taschen
radical
we couldn’t decide between the Barbican’s Radical Nature event and all the different Apollo-related stuff happening this month, so this picture of Richard Buckminster Fuller’s US Pavillion for Expo ’67 is perfect. part of the Barbican’s amazing architecture-meets-nature summer spectacular, it also happens to show the parachutes and capsule from the Apollo program – at that point, still untested and waiting to make history in the years ahead
_image courtesy of the Barbican / the estate of R Buckminster Fuller
apollo
with the 40th anniversary of the moon landings fast approaching, our Apollo season continues with apollo +at + apollo – an evening of live music, art, video and spacecraft construction in an abandoned shop in South London. we’re also planning an event on the night itself (July 20th) so stay tuned
_image: NASA
nightlight
we wanted to tell you about Friday’s release of wild beavers in Scotland but due to overwhelming press interest the pictures didn’t arrive in time. so instead, we’d thought we’d preview the latest work from United Visual Artists, whose upcoming show at The Smithfield Gallery comprises a series of photos taken at various sites around the UK of a glowing, moon-like orb
_image: Deus by UVA
_image: Deus by UVA
_image: Deus by UVA
orphans
to kickstart our Apollo season, super/collider is proud to present the UK premiere of Orphans of Apollo, which tells the story of a group of space entrepreneurs who flew to Moscow in the late 1990s to takeover the Russian space station, MIR. after negotiating one of the most ambitious business deals on earth, they hired and launched a group of astronauts into space to visit the station – a momentous but often overlooked moment in history. though ultimately doomed, their bold plan set the stage for the current private space race and the space tourism industry. definitely one for space nerds, the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director, Michael Potter. full details on our super/cinema page
_image: the MIR space station and the moon / NASA
encounters
trust Werner Herzog to find the weirder side of any story. in Encounters at the End of the World, the German documentary master sweeps away the pristine white snow of Antarctica and uncovers the grimier, more real and more surreal side of this continent at the end of the world, and the nutcases who work there. a bit long towards the end, but worth it for the incredible and seemingly never-ending descent into an ice tunnel formed by a volcano – surely one of the most beautiful and silent places on earth
_still from Encounters at the End of the World
drowned world
from JG Ballard to, uh, Kevin Costner, the idea of a flooded earth has long gripped the imaginations of great thinkers. with global ice sheets looking increasingly precarious, the idea behind artist/architect Chris Bodle’s Watermarks project is to show us just bad things could get. a series of high water marks projected around Bristol from today, the project aims to stimulate debate and discussion about how we predict, prevent – and deal with – the rising tide
_Watermarks projection by Chris Bodle
cold war
if you live in London and you haven’t checked out the Cold War Modern exhibition at the V&A yet, you’ve got until Sunday before it moves on to Italy in March. worth tracking down for an impressive dose design and culture from 1945-1970, it includes a real Soviet model of Sputnik, experimental spacesuits, clips from films like 2001, fashion from Pierre Cardin and Paco Rabane plus all manner of futuristic architectural utopias, from Superstudio and Archigram to lesser-known Soviet and Japanese plans for dome cities, modular living and high rise towers. if super/collider was an exhibition, this would be it
_still from 2001: A Space Odyssey courtesy of the V&A
cradle
forty years ago this Sunday, the Apollo 8 spacecraft blasted off for the moon, carrying astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders – who would go on to take the famous ‘earthrise’ photograph from lunar orbit. it marked the first human mission ever leave the earth for deep space, the first time anyone could see and photograph the whole earth, and the first time anyone saw the dark side of the moon; all welcome Christmas distractions after a turbulent year. re-live the journey at NASA’s image archive, have a great holiday and we’ll see you in the year 2009
_artist’s concept of Apollo 8 Command Module (NASA)
_Apollo 8 on pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center
_Apollo 8 Saturn V launch (with moon added by NASA)
_earthrise seen from Apollo 8 (NASA)
_artist’s concept of Apollo 8 jettisoning panels (NASA)
_Apollo 8 re-entering the earth’s atmosphere (NASA)
chemistry 4/4
the Biochemistry Department at Oxford University is internationally renowned for its research on understanding of DNA, cell growth and immunity. working 24h a day, researchers will use the shiny new labs to learn more about how cells work, which has already lead them to breakthroughs in malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, avian flu, cancer, strokes and other illnesses
_photo: Keith Collie
chemistry 3/4
throughout the building, specially commissioned art pieces bring the space to life, encouraging creative thinking and interdisciplinary working. visible here (L to R) are Annie Cattrell’s ‘chandelier’ of birds, Nicky Hirst’s Portal façade and Peter Fraser’s photographs of the building under construction
_photo: Keith Collie
chemistry 2/4
designed by HawkinsBrown, the brand new building features high-tech labs arranged around a tall central atrium. timber-clad and naturally ventilated, its glass ceiling is lined with small solar panels, visible here
_photo: Keith Collie
chemistry
we don’t cover life sciences half as much as we should, so super/collider jumped at the chance to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the new Biochemistry building at Oxford last week. an amazing fusion of art, architecture and leading-edge science, it’s a glimpse into new ways of encouraging creativity
_photo: Keith Collie
X-102
of all the crazy stuff out there in the Universe, few things can top our relatively close neighbour, Saturn. from its sci-fi ring system to over 60 moons like Titan and Enceladus, it’s got the lot. inspired by the ongoing Cassini-Huygens mission, Jeff Mills and Mike Banks of Underground Resistance fame have revisited their 1992 techno opus: X-102 Discovers the Rings of Saturn. there’s a film screening / talk / club night next Thursday at London’s ICA, but you’ll need to be quick as it’s selling out fast
_image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
_image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
_image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
_image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
atomic
if you haven’t checked out The Arts Catalyst’s nuclear art show yet, you might want to do so before next Friday, when they and the venerable Royal Society of Arts will be hosting a forum on nuclear power, art and culture. it’s free to register and speakers include Kate Hudson of CND and James Acord – the only private citizen in the world licensed to handle radioactive materials
_image: still from Chris Oakley’s Half-Life
chandrayaan
this week saw the launch of India’s Chandrayaan lunar probe, the country’s first venture beyond earth orbit. roughly translated as ‘moon vehicle’, it’s off to map the lunar surface and carry out a whole load of international experiments – with everyone from Bulgaria to NASA hitching a ride. back on earth, the probe was the inspiration behind the awesome Moon Vehicle project; a collaboration between British artist Joanna Griffin and design students at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore which saw school kids designing their own satellites. if only the real thing looked so rad!
_photo: Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
_photo: Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology