Abstract

Louise Beer, IoA Artist in Residence, will share a presentation that considers the philosophical impacts of dark skies, and how having access to them can help us to understand better loss and grief, our individual connection to the deep time history of Earth and the Universe, and the cosmic significance of the climate crisis. Louise will share her 2024 British Council-funded project, Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle which was developed in collaboration with astronomer Dr Ian Griffin and Tūhura Otago Museum in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this project, the artist invited astronomers, biologists, and geologists to gaze into the dark skies of New Zealand and anonymously write a letter exploring how their knowledge of Earth’s long and gradual development, starting from the dawn of the Universe, shapes their understanding of the cosmic significance of the climate crisis.