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

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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.