Paradise (suspended) 

Latin suspendere, from sub- ‘from below’ + pendere ‘hang’ –

the prefix, sub- is often simplified to su- before sp; as seen in suspect, suspend, suspicion, suspension –

attachment from above/ imposed but not enforced/ dispersed through the bulk

A meshing of images and geometries which serve as a motif for the universe, fragmented and suspended echoing a time when dreams have been put on hold and the routines of daily life broken and held in limbo.

Work in progress looking at the possibility of a home from home orbiting the star HD70642 in the constellation of Puppis located about 92 light years away.  Link here to see HD70642 using the online planetarium Stellarium.

This star has a long period planet companion making a circular orbit which means it is one of the most similar currently known planetary systems to our Solar System. There could be an Earth like planet orbiting this star. It would have taken my Mother’s whole life to reach here and the very first radio signals are only just arriving.

Puppis is one of the three constellations that once formed the huge constellation Argo Navis. In Greek mythology, the Argo carried Jason and his 50 Argonauts to Colchis at the eastern end of the Black Sea, to recover the Golden Fleece helped by Athena and Orpheus.

Imagine a world 92 light years away looking back at us. What patterns do the stars make? What stories are told here? Could those radio signals reaching them now be picked out from the noise of the universe?

I have made some progress with Seeker, Seer, Scientist an investigation at the boundary of my horizon. What lies beyond.

Marking out a 3 mile radius on my customized ordnance survey map to determine each destination at the four points of my compass.  I embarked upon my first journey at dawn.

My GoPro headstrap had not arrived and so I had to improvise.

I was surprised by huge flocks of raucous parakeets rising from their overnight roost.

Destination North took me to Richmond Park. Wild deer and the terrifying roar of the nearby stag made a magical encounter.

Some test filming of soap membranes for use in the film as a crossover point between the visual and the imagined reality.

Wonderful to hear that my video sculpture At a distance has been selected for Programme 2 of Visions in the Nunnery 2020 at Bow Arts

Nye Thompson’s Programme 2 explores our world through the many new digital systems that have fundamentally changed how we see and exist. Data is harvested, other worlds are imagined and the cataclysmic effect of technology is explored. I’m very excited to see her new work which virtually builds a colossal dividing wall on the un-walked territories of Mars.

In At a distance solitary figures using semaphore flags sign ‘We are one’ out across the ocean. Filmed at Lizard Point Cornwall on 29th March 2019 (the first date the UK was supposed to leave the EU). As in entanglement theory where two paired electrons mirror each other at a distance it is hoped the message will be echoed back.

Every outing is precious now. Visited Unit 1 Gallery/workshop Radical Residency V exhibition particularly to see the enigmatic sculpted forms of Marianne Walker’s 3D drawings connecting conversations across the ages echoing object and mark making. Impressive collection of works including Emily Woolley’s alchemical sculpture articulating swirling ocean currents through the use of mica.

First post lock-down gallery visit was to see Among The Trees at the Hayward Gallery.

‘In meditative works across different media, 37 artists explore how trees challenge how we think about time, and consider how intimately entangled they are with human affairs. They invite us to appreciate their soaring scale, in art works such as a monumental sculpture cast from a 2,000-year-old olive tree by Ugo Rondinone, a cinematic portrait of a 30-metre-high spruce tree by Eija-Liisa Ahtila, and a vast forest of trees constructed entirely from cardboard by Eva Jospin. Among the Trees transports us around the world – from Colombian rainforests and remote Japanese islands to olive orchards in Israel and a 9,550-year-old spruce in Sweden.

There was lots to feel in awe of as trees are such magnificent beings. During lockdown trees became a vital presence for everyone confined to their immediate neighbourhood. The daily walk gave us time to notice spring unfurl and appreciate local nature.

I followed the fortunes of stumpy from a brutal curtailment of growth happened upon during my first covid walk, to the fight back to regain some of what was before. Just as we are bristling and sending out tentative new growth as we emerge from lockdown.

Rachel Sussman’s photograph Underground Forest #0707-1333 (13,000 years old; Pretoria, South Africa) Deceased 2007 was particularly intriguing.

This is the crown of a tree that has migrated underground possibly to survive the areas regular wildfires.  These underground trees are found in the savannahs of southern Africa and South America and are different to the root systems of other trees. The shoots on the surface could be part of a network with large woody structures as much as one metre wide with stems measuring up to 10 metres across. If there is a fire the shoots above ground can quickly regrow. These underground forests are extensive and diverse and seem to be linked with the spread of the savannah around 8 million years ago that led to an increase in wildfires.

It is also what is known as a clonal tree which reproduces vegetatively underground. There are also clonal colonies where a forest of trees are all genetically identical linked by one network of roots that send up suckers. The world’s largest living organism (and maybe the oldest) is a clonal forest known as Pando or the Trembling Giant. This striking colony of quaking aspen covers 106 acres of Fishlake National Forest in Utah.

The other thing everyone mentioned during lockdown was how birdsong was louder and more pervasive to our days as traffic and flights ceased to muddy our soundscape.

The lockdown zoom Ways of Listening from Complicité was a joy to listen to. I didn’t realise how starved I felt of these sort of conversations. Hopefully the link below will remain active for the future. Unlike our eyes, our ears are never closed.

Ways of Listening | Complicité

I also watched the film Infinite Potential: The Life and Ideas of David Bohm which gives a biographical account of his life and search for something beyond or at the intersection of science.

Bohm was interested in consciousness because of its implications with regard to quantum theory.  He looks at the interconnectedness of all matter. How we interact with the earth, how we interact with each other. If we want to go beyond our current state of consciousness and experience wholeness we must look beyond the manifest veil of form to a realisation of oneness.