Have you seen any stars on the tube lately? It might have been an ad for the new Young Vic production of Bertold Brecht’s Life of Galileo. If you have ever dreamt of a play where you can lounge around on cushions, looking up at a planetarium ceiling while listening to Chemical Brothers and having actors high-fiving you while performing this sciency-political play, you are in luck. It’s playing at the aforementioned Young Vic theatre for another month.
It doesn’t matter whether you prefer Carl Sagan or Brian Cox. We all love to feel exhilarated when that video of how big is the Universe comes up on the Facebook feed. Universe is indeed vast. And it still thrills to listen how people fought for the right to tell the truth. Galileo will take you on a journey of discovery, reminding you that you yourself know a lot more about the universe than this giant of thought and other men who suffered for trying to change the status quo did. If you have ever felt the need to tell someone from the past all that we have learned so far, this will be definitely one of those moments. Much like wishing to tell Van Gogh about his extraordinary success and influence. Galileo will show you why science has become important; in the play he insists, much to our contemporary bewilderment that what is observed can’t be swept under a carpet just because it goes against what is currently preferred to be believed in. A big question for our times too as it happens. What Galileo and the others could see, they put it into a coherent narrative of how everything works around us. And we should not forget that. It led to where we are now. Universe after all, is fascinating. And if you need a reminder of it on your wall, look no further.
Gordon Barker, Cosmos Stars and stardust. Colours melting into each other and swirling in a deathly embrace. Are we made of stars? Yes, and one day we might become stars again. Gordon’s canvas is quite large and his acrylics have a watercolour feel. Pink is washed into shades of blues and bright yellow is sprinkled over like a galactic afterthought. A landscape of cosmic dust.
Themis, Eclipse of the Light This large multimedia painting shows charcoal like burned up star remains that has only surface fire left. It’s textural, three-dimensional and explosive. Hovering above a fiery sea it burns and dies against a blue background. Themis is an accomplished artist who is deeply involved in the thought process behind her work, her influences and materials. Art is deeply personal for us all, its definition can be anything from searching for freedom to looking for meaning. If you would like a visual reminder of the purpose in life that is driving you, Themis’ work might be something for you.
Teresa Zefara Byrne, Melita Tempest Teresa made this work out of a memory of a storm she encountered as a child. Storms are quite visceral in themselves, even more so when you are little. When storms happen in space, there might be no lightning, but you can be sure there are huge forces involved. This work is on glass with several layers of luminous paint, pieces of gold, bronze and silver. She uses blues and greens to denote the water and nature fighting and spilling over each other in the powers of wind currents. What feels like a surface, much like when we look up into a starry sky, is actually deep and full of invisible layers that make up everything.
You can still find tickets to the exhilarating production at Young Vic here
Not the stars you were looking for?