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匿名巴约挂毯艺术家谁描绘了哈雷彗星1000年前。一种相对脆弱的纺织品，原始的经历了战争、动荡、天气和不断变化的气候。它受到了连续30代赞助人的保护，他们认为它是值得保存的文化遗产，并且在50个场景中讲述了值得流传的故事。挂毯是最早的系列艺术品之一;对现代和当代艺术形式产生了影响，从极简主义，漫画和电影。虽然彗星的小图像乍一看像一个天真的孩子的画，它实际上是一个令人难以置信的复杂的综合科学观察和创造性的想象力，描述了彗星的速度，在摄影出现前800年，一个移动物体的方向和亮度，同时增加了一个诗意的表达和奇迹，也传达了人们的感受和经验，谁在那里见证太空挂毯是一个同样雄心勃勃的尝试，旨在创造一个大规模的视觉叙事，植根于当代技术和感知，但目标是至少再持续1000年，创造一个报告，我们人类对太空的探索，在我们的时代，一只眼睛看到历史，另一只眼睛看到未来。简单地说，“我们在这里，这是我们所看到的，这是我们所知道的，这是我们所寻找的，这是我们所相信的，这是让我们感到惊讶的”。最终的艺术品将太大，无法在一个场地看到，所以计划了一系列的展览。英国前两个确认的场馆是泰特利物浦美术馆和牛津大学科学史博物馆，2017年的观众总数接近50万人。在利物浦，学习部门将与LJMU的天体物理学部门密切合作，围绕该项目开发学习活动，而在MHS牛津，该主题非常适合与收藏品产生强大的协同作用，这是世界上最好的与科学史有关的物质文化集合之一。1885年，托马斯沃德尔的妻子，熟练的刺绣师伊丽莎白沃德尔，威廉·莫里斯的一位同事参观了巴约，并受到启发，为英国制作了一幅挂毯的复制品。她召集了35名女性来完成这件作品，然后在英国各地和国际上巡回演出了十多年，最后在阅读博物馆定居下来。同样，我正在与一群年轻艺术家助手合作，以实现全面的工作。我准备好了设计，我的助手帮我填写轮廓，共同探索音调和模式的世界。我的过程利用了每个人的个性、独特的解剖结构、多变的情绪和能量水平，创造出各种各样的标记，往往是随意的、不完整的或充满缺陷和无限可能的，在整个工作中展示出人性的深度。我从不接受无薪实习生，但坚持给年轻人支付薪水，这自然会创造多样性。我从大学艺术学院招聘，并优先考虑少数民族申请人，他们为这项工作带来了丰富的经验，实际上受到了来自世界各地的微妙影响。尽管是黑色和白色，图纸振动这么多的能量，他们似乎是在彩色，一种能量，我相信将仍然是至关重要的和明显的1000年后。

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.