Having studied A Level art and an Art Foundation before physics at university, Lucie retains a keen interest in art/science projects.

ITV Creates

Throughout February 2021, ITV featured an artwork created by Melanie King in collaboration with Lucie as one of their channel idents. The artwork was inspired by, and celebrated, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter mission that launched one year before. The mission takes a suit of cameras and detectors close to the Sun to make ground-breaking observations that will help answer questions related to the formation of solar activity and the solar wind. The wonderful artwork was created using photosensitive dyes and ultraviolet light, one of the wavelengths of light emitted by the Sun. The artwork was seen by over 40 million people.

Laboratorio

The poetic anthology of a space lab

The award-winning poet Simon Barraclough took up a residency at MSSL to work on a project funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Simon embedded himself in the department, finding out about every facet of the work, and he provided avenues to explore creativity within the space lab. Staff and students joined Simon to read and write and think about language. And members of the public were also invited to share the poems that were written during this time. The residency culminated in the publication of a poetic anthology of MSSL, called Laboratorio, (published by Sidekick Books). You can listen to an interview with Simon about the residency in the podcast below.

Light and Dark Matters: Sunrise Walk

On a cold and chilly November morning, Lucie led a group of people from the Tate Modern across the Thames, past the Bank of England and back to the Tate via the new Globe Theatre. Along the way, the science of the Sun and the role it has played in our culture for many centuries was discussed. The Tate Modern’s building (the old Bankside power station) acted as a backdrop to discuss how the energy source that powers the Sun was discovered. And the Bank of England was used to symbolize the impact that the Sun’s activity can have on our economy – through the Sun creating stormy space weather. But the group also listened to the pulsing sounds of the Sun and listened to Sun and Shakespeare-inspired poetry. The walk was a collaboration between the Institute of Physics, the Tate Modern and UCL.

Satellite Stories

The culmination of a residency at MSSL by Joanna Griffin was ‘Satellite Stories’. Over several months, Joanna gathered the space-related experiences and interests of people at MSSL and from the general public. The project was funded by UCL and the Arts Catalyst and ended with a story telling evening where those involved shared their experiences and thoughts in a democratic setting,  walking through the MSSL grounds at sunset. It was a departure from the usual public engagement activities of the department and opened up new ideas about public engagement.

Lanterns at sunset – Satellites Stories

Our Liverpool Landscape: Sunset at 6:36

This event was organised by environment artist Kerry Morrison and actor Andy Pollard as part of Our Liverpool Landscape: From Turner to Today, inspired by Tate Liverpool’s summer exhibition Turner Monet Twombly: Later Paintings.