Light Up Poole

The Light Up Poole Festival launched, quite literally, in a blaze of collective light on 21st February, and closes tonight, on the 23rd February. Of the 24 installations, 2, from the Projection Studio, were conceived and developed in partnership with Ordered Universe research. In this case it’s the cosmological vision and astronomical writings of Robert Grosseteste that provided the inspiration. Horizon, premiered at the Napa Lighted Festival, gets its European first showing at Poole, and Zenith (pictured above) is a completely new show, made for Light Up Poole.

Professors Brian Tanner and Giles Gasper (Durham University) from the core Ordered Universe research team, are giving a public talk this afternoon (3-5 at the Lighthouse), taking the theme of the conference ‘Tides’ and exploring medieval and modern understanding of this phenomenon. We’ll be taking a journey through Grosseteste’s thought on the universe, on the importance and motion of water, and then his more considered thought on tides, alongside that from his pupil, Adam of Exeter. And, in addition, a time-travelling course on Grosseteste’s ancient and medieval predecessors, from China, India, Ancient Greece and Rome, the Medieval Islamicate and his European medieval contemporaries. All of this set alongside a scientific elucidation of tides, gravitational waves and the benefits of collaborative research. We’re very much looking forward to this, and also providing some extra context for our collaborations with the Projection Studio. The projections disseminate our research to a fantastic range of audiences, in a creative, intriguing, inspiring fashion. The blend of questions deeply old and deeply human about our place in the universe, with attempts at answers from particular figures past and present, mirrors the interdisciplinary elucidation of medieval science by Ordered Universe.

See you in Poole if you’re attending the talk and the Festival – otherwise we’ll report our activities, findings, and reflections here. Light Up Poole has an exciting range of partners, including Arts Council England, and is proving very popular with the audiences! Can’t wait to be there.