Evaporation

Discover our second Lovelock Art Commission, Evaporation by Tania Kovats – an installation exploring our relationship with water and the world’s oceans.

World Premiere of Tania Kovats’ Evaporation at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Part of the 2015 Manchester Science Festival and ArtCOP21.

Cape Farewell and the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester (MSI) proudly present the second annual Lovelock Art Commission; which invites a selected artist to take inspiration from the lifelong work of the famous scientist James Lovelock.

For the 2015 commission, internationally acclaimed artist Tania Kovats explores the significance of our relationship with water and the world’s seas and oceans through a brand new installation Evaporation. The exhibition and related events will be in the large 1830 Warehouse Gallery space at MSI for 6 months from 22 October 2015, as part of the 2015 Manchester Science Festival and ArtCOP21.

Taking James Lovelock’s Gaia theory – of the earth as an interconnected super organism – as her starting point, this new sculptural piece explores global bodies of water. Lovelock’s work focused much attention on the significance of the planets’ oceans as a barometer of its health, and how better to understand how the planet regulates itself. As global sea temperatures rise and the impact of pollution is becoming increasingly clear, this work is more vital than ever.

Kovats’ installation is comprised of three large-scale (3 x 2m), shallow, metal bowls reflecting the shape of the world’s oceans lifted from the globe. Each bowl contains a solution of salt and blue ink that gradually evaporates in a hydro-cycle, leaving a jewel-like crust of salt crystals in concentric rings. This will be an object with its own tides; different each time a viewer sees it.

Additional complementary works to this installation include framed sets of drawings made through an equivalent ‘tidal’ evaporation process, smaller ceramic works, a digital live tidal map produced by the artist, and a video which will showcase her practice and process.

Alongside this work will be Tania’s more recent commission All the Seas, which was created for the Edinburgh Fruitmarket Gallery. Made up of a large four-tiered shelving unit stacked with hundreds of glass bottles each containing water from each of the planet’s 200+ seas. This critically acclaimed sculptural installation has been created with the help of a global network of people drawn in by the desire to bring all the waters of the world to one place. At present, 209 seas have been collected and this search continues. Throughout the exhibition water will continue to be added to the work, as the 36 remaining sea are collected for this striking and thought-provoking piece. Follow the hashtag #TheSeaStories to find out about new samples as they come in.

Evaporation is the second of Cape Farewell’s annual Lovelock Art Commissions – inspired by the findings, writings and interventions of the famous scientist James Lovelock. Commissioning artists who pioneer the vital dialogue between science, art and the climate challenge.

Associated Events

  • Alongside the installation was a special world premiere of The Wave on the 25 October (rolling performances at 11am,12am, 2pm and 4pm). A special choral commission created by renowned BBC Proms ‘Gaia’  Composer Jonathan Dove. Dove will work with musicians and performers from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), seeking inspiration from the oceans and tides celebrated in Tania’s work. This brand new piece was shared with the public throughout the day in a series of rolling performance from 11am to 4pm in the heart of the exhibition space.
  • Both Tania Kovats and Jonathan Dove were in conversation from 7-8pm on the 24 October in the exhibition space discussing their collaboration and explaining how sculptural works relate to the seas and oceans, as well as James Lovelock’s Gaia principle. This conversation will be lead by leading Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall of Southampton University.
  • On the 24 and 25 October there were a series of writing workshops for children exploring the seas and our relationship with them, led by the brilliant Mandy Coe.

About the Lovelock Art Commissions
ArtCOP21 Climate Festival

See Also

installation view

Cloud Crash

The third of our Lovelock Art Commissions, artist duo HeHe

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