New Charles Jencks Mosaic Explores Dance of Life and Death of Sun and Earth
The dance of life and death between the sun and Earth is at the heart of a new mosaic by Charles Jencks being unveiled this weekend in Dumfries and Galloway.
Members of the public will be able to see the artwork for the first time during Solar Flare/Earth Shield – a three-day festival of the solstice at Crawick Multiverse and in the nearby town of Sanquhar.
It lies in the centre of the huge amphitheatre which is one of the main features of the extraordinary 55-acre artland Jencks created to regenerate a former open caste coalmine in south west Scotland.
On Sunday, 26 June the artland, which inspired by the themes of space, astronomy and cosmology, will host a day of processions, performance, music, art and family friendly fun as the climax of the festival.
The Friday and Saturday will feature the opening of Landscape of Waves, a new collaborative exhibition by Jencks and Alex Rigg, in Sanquhar plus a series of talks by some of the world’s leading scientists.
The mosaic reflects Jencks deep fascination with the way the cosmos works.
He said: “For Earth there is no greater agency than the sun, giving us warmth and much else besides. Its great giveaway is energy – the earth lives off one-trillionth of this gift – and all the necessities for photosynthesis and growth we need.
“But its solar wind can be a killer, as it was for Mars, and the occasional Solar Flare could rip through our atmosphere destroying it instantly, if it weren’t for our magnetic shield.
“This shield is in the shape of a double donut. Such invisible magnetism surrounds the earth, channelling the killer particles to the north and south poles as the aurora borealis, turning them into a stunning atmospheric dance we can see on certain nights.
“Solar flares plus Earth shield equals visual beauty. The sun is less a warrior god and more a tender woman who pulls the earth along in warming, changing wave-forms.”
For more information or to buy tickets for the summer solstice festival activities, visit www.crawickmultiverse.co.uk.
Images by Kim Ayres Photography
