- Venue
- Thames-Side Studios Gallery
- Starts
- Friday, November 10, 2023
- Ends
- Sunday, November 26, 2023
- Address
- Unit 4 Harrington Way, Warspite Road, London, SE18 5NR
- Location
- London
- Organiser
- Thames-Side Studios Gallery
Reimagining the idea of an observatory, their sculptures and installations reach for scales and orders that surpass the human, revealing the cosmic at our feet. The exhibition proposes a cavernous realm of real and speculative possibilities that arise from beyond the limits of human perception. Engaging with the extended sensory range offered by technologies such as orbiting space telescopes through to the ability of birds to ‘see’ the Earth’s magnetic field, the artists’ reveal intimate connections between earth and space.
SUSAN EYRE re-imagines the magnetic observatory as a site of enquiry into ways of orientating ourselves in the universe. Seeking to navigate a path across time from the first human encounter with the magical qualities of the lodestone to current understanding of quantum mechanics and the interaction of the magnetic field with terrestrial life; Eyre fathoms timescales spanning geological time, the annual drift of the magnetic poles and the instantaneous erraticism of cosmic ray activity. The architecture, instruments and materials, found at a magnetic observatory, are investigated and responded to through sculpture, installation, moving image and material processes while scientific objectives are expanded to include natural navigation techniques and extra-sensory methods used by the non-human realm to form the basis of speculation as to the ability for humans to perceive the Earth’s magnetic field.
JULIE F HILL explores the entwined darknesses of earth and cosmos. Crystalline and mineral substances from the deep earth fuse with astronomical data to suggest the deep-earth as an instrument for coming to know the cosmos. Crystalline and mineral substances formed in the continuum of deep earth and deep space allow us to peer back into cosmic time, both through the technologies created with them and the geological record they hold. Whilst darkness often indicates uncertainty and lack of knowledge, Hill asserts that it’s through darkness when we can be most perceptive to the interconnectedness between earth and cosmos. Through it we are able to extend our kinship with the inorganic and expand consciousness of what constitutes nature. Works include Cave, her large-scale sculptural installation made from James Webb Space Telescope data that is reworked into a cavernous space, providing an experience of intimate immensity, alongside more smaller sculptural and photographic works.
EVENTS
Private view, Friday 10th November, 7pm
Vocal performance Abyssal Voices by Julie F Hill,
performed and devised with Eleanor Westbrook
Finissage, Sunday 26 Nov, 2023, 2–5 pm
Publication launch including essay by Anjana Janardhan
Cloud chamber demonstration by Susan Eyre, from 2pm
Artist tours and informal readings, 3pm
