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The annual Lovelock Art Commission, presented by Cape Farewell and the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), invites a selected artist to take inspiration from the lifelong work of the famous scientist James Lovelock.
For the 2015 commission, a brand new installation by internationally acclaimed artist Tania Kovats explores the significance of our relationship with water and the world’s seas and oceans.
ArtCOP21 – a global festival of cultural activity on climate change
The ‘Evaporation’ exhibition and related events will be in the large 1830 Warehouse Gallery space at MOSI for the next six months as part of the 2015 Manchester Science Festival and ArtCOP21.
Taking James Lovelock’s Gaia theory – that the Earth is an interconnected super organism – as her starting point, this new sculptural piece explores global bodies of water.
Lovelock’s work stressed the importance of the planets’ oceans as a barometer of its health, and a better way to understand how the planet regulates itself.
As global sea temperatures rise and the impact of pollution is becoming increasingly clear, this work is more vital than ever.
Kovats’ installation comprises three large (3x2m), shallow metal bowls reflecting the shape of the world’s oceans lifted from the globe.
Each bowl contains a solution of salt and blue ink that gradually evaporates in a hydro-cycle, leaving a jewel-like crust of salt crystals in concentric rings. This will be an object with its own tides – different each time a viewer sees it.
Additional works include framed sets of drawings made through an equivalent ‘tidal’ evaporation process, smaller ceramic works, a digital live tidal map and a video that will showcase the artist’s practice and process.
Alongside this work will be Tania’s more recent commission ‘All the Seas’, which was created for the Edinburgh Fruitmarket Gallery.
The piece is made up of a four-tiered shelving unit stacked with hundreds of glass bottles, each containing water from all of the planet’s 200+ seas.
This critically acclaimed sculptural installation was created with the help of a global network of people, all drawn together by the desire to bring the waters of the world to one place.
209 seas have been collected so far – and the search continues. Throughout the exhibition water will continue to be added to the work, as the 36 remaining seas are collected for this striking and thought-provoking piece.
Follow the hashtag #TheSeaStories to find out about new samples as they come in.
Alongside the installation, ‘The Wave’ will have its world premiere on 25 October, with rolling performances in the heart of the exhibition space at 11.00,12.00, 14.00 and 16.00.
This special choral commission was created by renowned BBC Proms ‘Gaia’ Composer Jonathan Dove.
Dove will work with musicians and performers from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), seeking inspiration from the oceans and tides celebrated in Tania’s work.
This brand new piece will be shared with the public throughout the day in a series of rolling performance from 11am to 4pm.
Both Tania Kovats and Jonathan Dove will be In Conversation in the exhibition space from 19.00-20.00 on 24 October.
Led by leading Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall of Southampton University, the discussion will cover James Lovelock’s Gaia principle, the artists’ collaboration and how sculptural works relate to the seas and oceans.
On 24-25 October there will be writing workshops for children with the brilliant Mandy Coe.
Click here to find out more about ArtCOP21, the global festival of cultural activity on climate change. More on Cape Farewell’s Lovelock Art Commission can be found here.
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