Jo Hodges is a multidisciplinary public artist based in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland with a background in Human Ecology, community development and social justice. Her work investigates ecological and socio-cultural systems, processes and relationships, and explores new strategies for working in public. Her practice takes many forms; temporary and permanent works, site specific installations and socially engaged projects and processes. She is often led by context, where the outcome is determined as a result of process. She is interested in research, experimentation and collaboration at the intersection of environment, culture and technology and exploring the role of art in social change. She is joint Director-Curator of Sanctuary Lab, a public art laboratory in the Galloway Forest Dark Skies Park.

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forbiddenplanet-spaceshipWell we couldnt just sit about and do nothing this year, so we’re doing this ….

An evening exploring darkness, space and technology; film screening, virtual reality experience, fireside discussion & star-gazing walk

Join us for an outdoor screening of the classic 1950’s science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. Following the film, take part in a fireside discussion on technology; past, present and future and experience the latest virtual reality technology or take a journey into darkness on a guided night-time star-walk.

23rd Sept at Talnotry, the Sanctuary site

https://sanctuarylab.eventbrite.co.uk

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Image: Seth Tisue

Sanctuary’s signature neon installation, Enclosure, last year attracted hundreds of bats. Freda Seddon from Dumfries and Galloway Bat Group will lead  a walk to the installation for a sonic experience using bat detectors to tune into the echolocation calls of the bats as they swoop over the installation catching insects. This really is a unique experience and not to be missed.

Meet 7.30pm at Murray’s monument Car Park

More at http://sanctuary2015.org/sonic-bat-walk-dumfries-and-galloway-bat-group

http://www.dumfriesbatgroup.org.uk

Please note there is no access to the high voltage neon installation unless in an accompanied group.

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Alec Star (GlowB Below)[6]We’re very pleased to announce two new interactive works coming to Sanctuary. John Wallace and Graham Rooney will be joining us with Entropy Lure, a work that uses live video projection and vintage and cutting edge thermographic cameras to reveal the heat signature of our vital energy as it dissipates into the universe.

Unicorn Diagragm will also joining us with Nightlight – 2 . A shadow catcher. Caught between a projector and a screen, our shadows are recorded – indefinitely layering brief moments in time. Separated from their owners, the anonymous community of shadows take on identities of their own.

Both these experimental works will take place during the hours of darkness and we’re very much looking forward to experiencing them.

More information at http://sanctuary2015.org/artists

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mepink

We’re delighted that Leila Johnston from Hack Circus will be joining us and giving a talk on Trickster power: misdirecting creative technology.

Leila will talk about her response to digital and the way that  ‘old fashioned’ modes (print, live shows) and their important virtues, have been almost totally muffled by digital utopianism, yet are important ways to explore speculative science, subversive tech and psychology.

Leila’s background has taught her that artists and makers must resist and circumvent systems, and never more so than when their practice overlaps with technology – a world defined by efficiency.

Leila Johnston is an artist, journalist and entertainer working with art and technology. She creates a quarterly live show and magazine called Hack Circus which explores ideas around speculative science, subversive tech and psychology in a fun and unique way.

See the talks and events page for more information

http://www.hackcircus.com

Palace Obscura 7pm

There are limited seats in the venue. To be sure of a seat, please reserve a place HERE

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Lost-CosmonautWe are looking for submissions of short experimental films to be screened on our Mirror screen installation. The installation consists of two circular screens showing a mirror image of  each other. The 10 foot screens are situated on one side of a river, watched by the audience on the other side with wireless headphones. A unique experience. http://sanctuary2015.org/artists/mirror-screens

We are looking for short films of less than 5 minutes that would work in this setting: experimental, abstract. This is an opportunity to have work shown in an exciting and unusual context.

Deadline is 16th September

For further information, please contact sanctuarylab2015@gmail.com

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Centaurus A is a bright galaxy about 13 million light years from Earth. The image is a composite of optical, millimetre and X-ray observations

We’re pleased to announce that Professor Martin Hendry will be joining us at Sanctuary and giving his fascinating talk “More Than Meets the Eye”, taking us on a journey through the unseen cosmos. Modern astronomy is about much more than the light our eyes can see: celestial objects emit light across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to radio waves. Exploring this spectrum reveals a violent and awe-inspiring cosmos of exploding stars, colliding galaxies, even the fading echoes of the Big Bang itself.

Martin will also be leading a stargazing walk, a guided tour of Galloway’s night skies, exploring the fascinating science behind familiar planets, stars and constellations.

Martin Hendry is Professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Glasgow, where he is also currently Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy. Martin is a passionate enthusiast for public engagement in astronomy and was until recently a “Science in Society” Fellow for the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy, and in 2015 was awarded the MBE for services to public understanding of science.

More information :  http://sanctuary2015.org/talks-events

Talk 8pm. Stargazing walk 10pm. (These are provisional times, please check the programme nearer the event)

 

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Work by Tim Shaw and Sébastien Piquemal. Image Chris Scott
Work by Tim Shaw and Sébastien Piquemal. Image Chris Scott

We’re pleased to announce the artists who will be bringing new work to this years Sanctuary.

Broken20 are presenting a multi-platform participatory ensemble work entitled BrokenLight. Jamie Clements and Nick Millar are creating Eternal Silence, an interactive installation based on the final morse code message sent by the French Navy in 1997; ‘Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence’. Chris Dooks will present Schellackplatten Triangulated, a live mix of rare 78s for at least three beautifully irritable gramophones. Zoë Irvine & Kuchke will bring ŠUMA, a sound work combining vocal performance, radio transmission and woodland, and Tim Shaw and Sébastien Piquemal are developing Murmurate, a site-responsive performance which uses the audience’s personal smartphones and tablets as a sound diffusion system.

Check out the following link for more info http://sanctuary2015.org/artists

An amazing line up so far and theres more to come…. Thanks to Alt-w and the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere for supporting these works.

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The Dark Outside HQ
The Dark Outside HQ

Curator of The Dark Outside FM, Frenchbloke aka Stuart McLean will be talking about The Dark Outside FM on Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone, Radio 6 tonight from 8pm. There’ll also be the  second ever airing of “No, You Tell Him” by Modern Hunting which was recorded especially for The Dark Outside in 2013. Modern Hunting are Barry Burns (from Mogwai) and Antoni Maiovvi. Stuart says “It’s really rather good”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05y0bm2