Space Tapestry: Creation of new artwork for two exhibitions at Tate Liverpool and the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford in 2017

太空挂毯是一个3 × 200米的艺术品，灵感来自于1000年前描绘哈雷彗星的匿名贝叶挂毯艺术家。作为一种相对脆弱的纺织品，原始的纺织品经受住了战争、动乱、天气因素和所有权变化的考验。它得到了连续30代赞助人的保护，他们认为它是值得保存的文化遗产，50个场景讲述的故事值得代代相传。这幅挂毯是最早的系列艺术品之一；对现代和当代艺术形式的影响，包括极简主义、漫画和电影。虽然彗星的小图像乍一看就像一个天真的孩子的画，但它实际上是一个令人难以置信的复杂的科学观察和创造性想象力的综合，它描述了彗星的速度，方向和移动物体的亮度，在摄影出现之前800年，同时增加了诗意的表达和奇迹，也传达了人们的感受和经验，他们在那里见证了这一点，我们今天可以识别。《太空挂毯》是一个同样雄心勃勃的尝试，它以当代技术和感知为基础，创造了一种大规模的视觉叙事，但其目标是在未来至少再持续1000年，创造一份人类对太空的追求的报告，在我们这个时代，一只眼睛看历史，另一只眼睛看未来。简单地说，“我们在这里，这就是我们所看到的，这就是我们所知道的，这就是我们所寻找的，这就是我们所相信的，这就是让我们惊讶的。”最终的作品太大，无法在一个场地看到，因此计划举办一系列展览。2017年，英国首批确定的两个场馆是泰特利物浦美术馆和牛津大学科学史博物馆，总共有近50万观众。在利物浦，学习部门将与LJMU的天体物理系密切合作，围绕该项目开展学习活动。在MHS牛津，这个主题非常适合与世界上最好的与科学史有关的物质文化组合之一的藏品建立强大的协同作用。1885年，伊丽莎白·沃德尔（Elizabeth Wardle）是一位熟练的刺绣师，也是威廉·莫里斯（William Morris）的合伙人托马斯·沃德尔（Thomas Wardle）的妻子，她参观了贝叶，并受到启发，为英国制作了一件挂毯的复制品。她召集了35位女性完成了这项工作，然后在英国和国际上巡回展出了十多年，最后在雷丁博物馆（Museum of Reading）永久收藏。同样，我正在与一群年轻的艺术家助理合作，以实现全面的工作。我准备设计，我的助手帮我填写轮廓，共同探索一个色调和模式的世界。我的创作过程借鉴了每个人的个性、独特的解剖结构、不断变化的情绪和能量水平，创造了各种各样的标记，通常是任意的、不完整的或完整的缺陷和无尽的可能性，在整个作品中展示了人性的深度。我从不接受无薪实习生，但我坚持给年轻人发工资，这自然会创造多样性。我从艺术大学招聘，优先考虑少数族裔申请人，他们为这项工作带来了广泛的经验，实际上吸取了来自世界各地的微妙影响。尽管是黑白的，这些图画却充满了活力，看起来像是彩色的，我相信这种活力在1000年后仍将是至关重要的。

Space Tapestry is a 3 x 200 meter artwork inspired by the anonymous Bayeux tapestry artists who depicted Halley's comet 1000 years ago. A relatively frail textile, the original has survived war, upheavals, the elements of weather and changing ownerships. It has enjoyed the protection of 30 successive generations of patrons who saw in it a cultural legacy worth preserving and the narrative told in 50 scenes worth passing on through the ages.The tapestry makes for one of the earliest serial artworks; an influence on modern and contemporary art forms ranging from Minimalism, comics and movies. While the small image of the comet at first sight resembles a naive child's drawing, it is fact an incredibly sophisticated synthesis of scientific observation and creative imagination which describes the comets speed, direction and luminosity of a moving object 800 years before the advent of photography while adding a level of poetic expression and wonder which also conveys the feelings and experiences of the people who were there to witness it and with whom we can identify today.The Space Tapestry is an equally ambitious attempt to create a large scale visual narrative, rooted in contemporary technology and perception but with the aim to last for at least another 1000 years ahead, to create a report of our human quest for space, made in our time, with one eye to history and another eye into the future. To simply say, 'We were here, this is what we saw, this is what we knew, this is what we looked for, this is what we believed in, and this is what amazed us'.The final artwork will be too large to be seen in one venue, so a series of exhibitions are planned. The first two confirmed venues in the UK are Tate Liverpool and the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford in 2017 to a combined audience of nearly half a million people. In Liverpool, the learning department will work closely with the Astrophysics department at LJMU to develop learning events around the project and at MHS Oxford, the theme is perfectly suited to create a powerful synergy with the collection, one of the world's finest assemblages of material culture relating to the history of science.In 1885, Elizabeth Wardle, a skilled embroiderer and wife of Thomas Wardle, associate of William Morris, visited Bayeux and was inspired to create a replica of the tapestry for England. She brought together 35 women to complete the work which then toured all over England and internationally for over a decade before settling into its current and permanent home at the Museum of Reading.Likewise, I am working with a group of young artists assistants to realise the full scale work. I prepared the designs and my assistants help me fill in the outlines, collectively exploring a world of tonalities and patterns. My process draws on each individual's personality, unique anatomy, shifting moods and energy levels, creating the widest variety of marks, often arbitrary, incomplete or complete with flaws and endless possibilities, displaying a depth of humanity throughout the work.I never accept unpaid interns but am adamant about paying young people which naturally creates diversity. I recruit from University Arts and give priority to minority applicants who bring a great range of experience to this work which in effect draws on subtle influences from all over the world. Despite being black and white, the drawings vibrate so much with energy they appear to be in colour, an energy I believe will still be vital and evident 1000 years from now.