Monday, February 11, 2013

HORIZONS: ALL KINDS!

 COSMOLOGY Exhibition

ADELAIDE

I have been away for nearly a week. Firstly I went to Adelaide to attend a White Paper presentation and delivery. And why and what for you might ask? Well, my eldest daughter completed a five week intensive interdisciplinary program 'The International Space University Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program' hosted by the University of South Australia... and the culmination of this amazing five weeks was the delivery of a White Paper called Common Horizons. You can find links to the White Paper and Executive Summary HERE 

Essentially the White Paper Common Horizons presents issues pertaining to our use of space  and makes proposals for the sustainability of space. The proposals are based on a global south perspective, but with a collaborative imperative for the world. The 1.5 hour presentation was fantastic! I got lots of inspiration, so over the next few months you will see paintings dealing with all sorts of things from space debris, to more of my visual explorations of humanity's place within the Universe.

About 40 people, from all around the world, attended the course [undergrads, graduates, PhD students, people working in space related industries]. They came from mainly science, technology or engineering backgrounds...with my daughter the only humanities/law student. Yes! The course is really interdisciplinary, with around 25% being legal and policy issues. The list of subjects and topics ranged from the technical, scientific, to the philosphical. The lecturers came from all around the world too.

After the presentation I spoke to a number of the participants and they, including my daughter, did not want the course to end. My impression is that they participated in a truly life changing, inspiring, exemplary example of what an educational experience should be. If only this was more common!

Here are some more links for you:
International Space University[ISU] LINK
Univeristy of South Australia LINK
The ISU Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Programme Facebook Page
Common Horizons BLOG

COSMOLOGY Exhibition  
Cosmic Auroboros is the most visited post on my BLOG!
 
 
MELBOURNE
 
COSMOLOGY
 
After spending 4 great days in Adelaide [I had never been there before] I flew to Melbourne to see my exhibition COSMOLOGY and to attend the opening on Saturday 9th February. When I walked into Purgatory Artspace I was delighted with how the exhibition looked. Emma, from Purgatory Artspace, had done a great job hanging the paintings. I was really happy with the number of people who came along to the opening, plus their reactions. The show has another week with its last day Saturday 16 February. Doors close at 5pm. 170 Abbottsford St, Nth Melbourne PH: 61 3 9329 1860
 
Check out my COSMOLOGY page with more details
 
INSPIRATION
 
For an artist it is really great to see paintings hanging together as a group. It is difficult in the studio or at home to get a really good impression of how paintings might look when grouped and hung together. An exhibition is like a space, or a hyphen, in a sentence. It gives a moment of reflection, a chance to breath...a pause...an opportunity to view new paths, perspectives and inspirations. 
 
So you can imagine how I was feeling on Friday and Saturday, especially after attending the White Paper Common Horizons delivery in Adelaide...I had so much swirling through my head! On top of this, in the week before I left on my travels, I had received my ordered copy of Prof. Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams new book THE NEW UNIVERSE AND THE HUMAN FUTURE: :How a Shared Cosmology Could Transform the World 
 
I had started reading the book, which is based on their Yale University series of Terry Lecture presentations, in Adelaide. WOW! So much synchronicity...with the ISU Space Pragram, the Common Horizons White Paper and the pictures I could see in my head!

COSMOLOGY Exhibition


HORIZONS
 
As mentioned above the 'ISU Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program' White Paper is called Common Horizons
 
I really resonnated with the word horizons. As regular readers know I often write about horizons and perspective. Using landscape elements as metaphors reminds us that 'landscape' is so much more than what is in front of us. It is more than a representation, whether realistic or not, of Earth bound scenery. If everything in the Universe, includng us, is stardust...then 'landscape', and all its elements, is everywhere. We humans are literally 'landscape' as we live within a multi perspectival [not sure if this word even exists!] environment that is not just Earth!
 
The use of the plural for horizon is also interesting, for indeed, in the contemporary world where cosmological studies are revealing more and more about the Universe, it is important to develop skills in 'seeing' more than one perspective...indeed as I have previously suggested, and what I try to stir in my work, is the idea of 'seeing' multi-perspectives...even simultaneously.
 
Here's a selection of a few related previous posts:
 
COSMOLOGY Exhibition
 
Cheers,
Kathryn

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