Visions of the Universe

Visions of the Universe is the latest exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (on now, until 15th September), dedicated to the memory of the wonderful Sir Patrick Moore and showcasing incredible images of the stars, planets and galaxies above us. You don't need to be an astronomy boffin either; photography fans are in for a particularly supermassive treat but anyone who has ventured outside of London's light pollution and just stared up at the night sky will be transported back to that feeling of sheer wonder.
http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/events/visions-of-the-universe

The exhibition includes photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA, The Royal Observatory's Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition and über-hip Turner Prizewinner Wolfgang Tillmans. Some images are coloured to show topographical detail (high and low ground) or the gases which make them up; this image of the moon clearly shows the craters, scars caused by billions of years' worth of asteroid bombardment. The largest crater on the moon, the South Pole-Aitken basin, is nearly 1500 miles across - that's roughly from here (London) to Moscow - and over five miles deep. No wonder asteroid collisions are the subject of disaster movies; and this is just one of the many instances of scale in this exhibition that are truly mind-boggling.

There are some beautiful and fascinating photographs of the sun, using ultraviolet images to show the seething surface and soaring arcs of gas flowing around the sunspots, and some awesome shots of nebulae from the Hubble Space Telescope. This one of the Eagle nebula looks like a illustration from a fantasy novel but the reality would be hard to beat; this is a photograph of stars being born.

I hadn't realised the extent of the information coming back from NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, which has been on the surface of the planet for a year now; apparently remnants of ancient stream beds show that, billions of years ago, conditions on Mars would have been favourable to life. There is also a cool 13-metre long panorama of the Martian landscape which gives you an idea of what it might be like to stand on Mars and look out over that barren red desert stretching away before you.

A potentially cautionary note to parents desperate to entertain their little cherubs over the summer holidays; I visited on a Sunday afternoon and the atmosphere was still quite grown-up, all subdued lighting and respectful hushed voices. This may or may not suit: I have an endearingly eccentric 11-year old godson who would absolutely love this exhibition, and he has an equally endearing eight-year old sister who would run riot through it. Having said that, the National Maritime Museum itself is kid heaven (even without the special family activities on over the summer) so you could always let them run themselves ragged first and earn yourself a few moments to just stand and stare.

Yours, in quiet amazement,

Girl About Town xx

Superhuman

The Wellcome Collection describes itself as 'a free destination for the incurably curious' which makes it pretty much exactly my kind of place. Part of the Wellcome Trust (eponymous charitable arm of the pharmaceutical giant) the venue is designed to encourage visitors to explore the connections between life, medicine and art. Having really enjoyed last year's excellent exhibition Dirt - a whole lot more interesting than it sounds, trust me on this - I was very much looking forward to the current one, Superhuman.

The subject couldn't be more topical. South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius is currently making headlines following his shock defeat in the T44 200m final to Brazilian runner Oliveira and immediate public complaint about the 'unfair' length of his rival's blades. He later apologised for the timing, but not the content, of his outburst. Pistorius's point was that the longer blade results in a longer stride: ironically his own chosen blades are shorter to comply with the IAAF regulations that allow him to run in both Olympic and Paralympic events - Oliveira's blades are only legal in the Paralympics.

In a recent interview with the Guardian, Ben Rushgrove (who has cerebral palsy and runs in the T36 100m and 200m) points out the potential advantages that all 'Blade Runners' have over other athletes: 'the blade runners don't have feet so they don't suffer tendonitis or stress fractures. It also means they can train longer and harder than their counterparts. Coaches also say that the blades reduce body fatigue . . . For these reasons it was wrong in my opinion that Oscar was allowed to take part in the Olympics.' 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/sep/04/pistorius-blades-advantage-in-olympics?newsfeed=true

This concept, that a double amputee with prostheses may actually have an advantage over those we traditionally consider 'able-bodied', is central to the Wellcome exhibition. Aimee Mullins, herself a double amputee and Paralympian as well as a model, motivational speaker and now actress, is quoted as saying, 'A prosthetic limb does not represent the need to replace loss anymore. It can stand as a symbol that the wearer has the power to create whatever it is that they want to create in that space, so that people society once considered to be disabled can now become the architects of their own identities.' 

Mankind has always sought enhancement to improve actual or perceived limitations; few would quibble with the use of a pacemaker or hearing aid, even contact lenses or lipgloss, but how far is too far? The first exhibit is a silhouetted figure of Icarus in flight, mythological poster boy for the downside of pushing the boundaries, whilst in Recorte por la Linea (Cut Through the Line) the artist is filmed standing naked whilst a plastic surgeon marks her body with a multitude of incision lines for potential 'improvements'.
Some items are equally controversial but altogether more bizarre and amusing (to me at least); the wonderfully-named Whizzinator, a strap-on prosthetic penis complete with dried urine sachets, originally designed to cheat drug tests but now marketed as a 'lifestyle choice' accessory, or a nineteenth-century pair of spectacles complete with silver nose made for a woman who lost hers to syphilis. An accompanying colour booklet, available for a £1 donation, covers the main points of each section of the exhibition and also contains transcripts of the Voices videos - experts in their fields talking about enhancements in sport, lifespan, even moral capacity.

If your curiosity is still unslaked the Wellcome Collection also boasts two permanent collections and an extensive library. Book into one of their free guided tours, take home some bedtime reading from the specialist Blackwell bookshop or just chill out with top notch tea and cake courtesy of the Peyton & Byrne on site café. Food for thought indeed.
http://www.wellcomecollection.org/

Yours, incurably curiously,
Girl About Town xx