British Art Show 7: In The Days Of The Comet - Teachers Pack

Teachers pack/plymouTh

contents

about British art show 7 page 3 What is pVac? page 4Introduction to the exhibition page 5list of artists page 6examples of artists work page 7Further resources page 13Ideas for activities back at school page 21What can we do for you? page 27how to book a visit page 27

British art show 7 Teachers pack

Organised by Hayward Touring, it takes place every five years and tours to four different cities across the UK. Now in its seventh incarnation, British Art Show 7: In the Days of the Comet opened in Nottingham and toured for the first time in 20 years to the Hayward Gallery, followed by Glasgow and now Plymouth. It is curated by Lisa Le Feuvre and Tom Morton.

The 39 selected artists have been chosen on the grounds of their significant contribution to contemporary art in the last five years. All artworks included have been produced since 2005 and encompass sculpture, painting, installation, drawing, photography, film, video and performance. British Art Show 7: In the Days of the Comet marks a change in direction from previous years, moving away from the model of a survey show to an exhibition with a marked curatorial focus.

British Art Show 7: In the Days of the Comet employs the motif of the comet to explore and draw together a set of concerns that thread their way through the practices of the selected artists. Here the comet alludes to the measuring of time, to historical recurrence, and to parallel worlds. Comets are also commonly understood as harbingers of change, and fittingly the exhibition will evolve as it moves from city to city, revealing new works at different venues and creating a unique exhibition in each host city.

“ The British art show has always been at the forefront of innovation, and this incarnation is no exception” Ralph Rugoff Director of the Hayward Gallery

about British art show 7British art show 7 is widely recognised as the most ambitious and influential exhibition of contemporary British art.


pVac aims to:

— consolidate and encourage the development of visual arts across the city

— support and raise aspirations for artists and audiences

— lobby and promote visual arts in the city, locally, nationally and internationally

— provide a public interface and information portal on visual arts activities

— foster collaborations on major initiatives across the city

— contribute to other networks, research, and development of visual arts practice

— PVAC works in collaboration with other cultural, business and governmental organisations currently including Arts Council England South West and Plymouth City Council.

— PVAC Partners:Platform P i-DAT Centre of Expertise, Plymouth University KURATOR, Plymouth University Plymouth Arts Centre Plymouth College of Art & Design Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery Peninsula Arts Gallery, Plymouth University

What is pVac? plymouth Visual arts consortium (pVac) is an association of individuals and organisations brought together by a shared vision for the visual arts in plymouth.

It was formed with the objective of supporting development across the city, generating increased resources and improved infrastructure, and to promote visual arts activities. PVAC provides a platform for information exchange, acts as a public interface, and works in collaboration with other cultural, business and governmental organisations.


The main exhibition is spread across five different venues in the city – Peninsula Arts, Plymouth University, Plymouth Arts Centre; Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery; Plymouth College of Art and the Slaughterhouse, Royal William Yard.

The aim of this resource is to provide a way to look at, learn from, and engage with, the various works on display across the city, and we encourage every school to visit. Elements of this document can support your visit to the exhibition, and can also be adapted for use in the classroom following a visit.

Each venue is available for your school to visit, including opportunities at some venues to have visits supported by a member of staff. Please refer to the ‘How to book a visit’ section on page 27 of this document for more information.

There are five key themes which the curators have considered will support the understanding of the works in the exhibition:

pasT aND preseNTHow can the past help us understand the present? Can we imagine time as anything other than a line? What role might memory play in this?

parallel realITIesCan we imagine worlds different from our own? How might this help us to understand our own world?

The orDer oF ThINGsHow are the elements that make up our world categorised? How is knowledge structured? Who decides these things? What are the alternatives?

sIGNs oF chaNGeWhat makes the present the present? Can we point to things that make now now? How was the future imagined in the past?

orBITsWhat does it mean for artists to reference the art of the past? What does it mean when an ‘old’ idea resurfaces?

Introduction to the exhibitionThis resource has been written to complement the exhibition British art show 7: In the Days of the comet (17 september to 4 December 2011).


peninsula arts Gallery, plymouth universityVarda Caivano Luke Fowler Michael Fullerton David Noonan Gail PickeringEdgar Schmitz Wolfgang Tillmans

plymouth arts centreAlasdair Gray Anja Kirschner & David Panos Mick Peter Edgar Schmitz Sue Tompkins

plymouth city museum and art GalleryCharles Avery Becky Beasley Karla Black Spartacus Chetwynd Milena Dragicevic Ian Kiaer Sarah Lucas Simon Martin Olivia Plender Elizabeth Price Edgar Schmitz Maaike Schoorel George Shaw Phoebe Unwin Emily Wardill

plymouth college of artJuliette Blightman Brian Griffiths Edgar Schmitz

The slaughterhouse, royal William yardKarla Black Duncan Campbell Steven Claydon Cullinan Richards Matthew Darbyshire Roger Hiorns Christian Marclay Nathaniel Mellors Haroon Mirza The Otolith Group Mick Peter Karin Ruggaber Edgar Schmitz Tris Vonna-Michell Keith Wilson

list of artists

IntroductionBritish art show 7 Teachers pack

examples of artists workThe works from the 39 selected artists for British art show 7 have been split between five venues across plymouth. many of the artists work could comfortably straddle the five underlying themes, and here we have selected a few to discuss.


christian marclay’s film The Clock combines thousands of found film clips, each of them featuring clocks, watches or characters reacting to a particular time of the day. The clips are arranged to echo what typically happens during the 24hrs of a day, for instance a clip of an alarm sounding at 7.30am will be followed by a one of another clock showing 7.31am, which is synchronised with the watch on your wrist. This is where the connection with our understanding of linear time (second follows second, minute follows minute etc) ends. Fragments of story from different films are quickly replaced with other fragments, meaning a narrative can never be created by the viewer.

activity “Time isn’t holding us, time doesn’t hold you back” Once in a Lifetime, Talking heads Why not get involved with the British Art Show 7 schools video project?

We’re hoping each school will take on one hour of the clock and be tasked to produce a Christian Marclay style video collage. This could be completed as a class project, in which the pupils create individual films, with the whole class editing them together. Why not create your own footage or animations as part of the film?

For more information on this project, please contact PVAC http://www.pvac.org.uk/

examples

christian marclayThe Clock 2010Single Channel Video, 24 Hours Courtesy White Cubeon Display: The Slaughterhouse, Royal William Yard

Please note At certain parts of the day there are scenes that may not be suitable for young children. Please contact us for advice on when to view this work.

pasT aND preseNThow can the past help us understand the present? can we imagine time as anything other than a line? What role might memory play in this?


charles avery has been exploring the idea of an ‘imaginary island’ in his work since 2004. Avery’s own island-world unfolds through a series of drawings, texts and objects that offer an insight into this parallel reality. An explorer arrives on what he believes to be an undiscovered island, only to find his illusion shattered when he arrives at the port town of Onomatopoeia. This place is densely populated and governed by a similar system to our own world, including a thriving underworld. The flora and fauna of the island is different to the world we know – beasts such as Alephs, Avatars and One-Armed Snakes all inhabit this place.

activity “To man is an island, no man stands alone”No Man is an Island, Joan Baez

Why not create a sculpture in your classroom? Using the idea of a parallel universe on Avery’s island as inspiration, your pupils can create an imaginary world of their own. A really useful starting point would be to look at the example of species adaptation by Charles Darwin. Another example is that of ‘parallel evolution’, where distinct animals have evolved similar traits, despite being isolated from one another – an example being spiny creatures such as porcupines being distinct from hedgehogs, and from echidnas.Would a snake benefit from having one arm?

examples

parallel realITIescan we imagine worlds different from our own? how might this help us to understand our own world?

charles avery Untitled (Miss Miss finally gives in by a tree where Aeaen sought to bamboozle the One-Armed Snake by Attaching himself to the tree to make himself a larger thing) 2010, mixed media sculpture, Installation shot at the Hayward Gallery, London, 2011Courtesy of Pilar Corrias Galleryon Display: Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery


Becky Beasley’s seven reproductions of a piece of iron pyrite – otherwise known as Fool’s Gold - hang side by side, showing the pyrite from different angles. These prints are framed behind yellow plastic. Each is titled with a different quote from Korrektur (Correction), a 1975 book by Thomas Bernard. The book refers to a fictional character called Roithamer, a scientist who dedicated his life to the creation of ‘the Cone’, a ‘mathematically precise structure’.

Beasley ”began to think of buildings as a kind of potential still life object” after seeing temporary structures being built and dismantled in Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games. This combined with the references to a ‘mathematically precise structure’; offer a monumentality to the small scale of the iron pyrite.

activity “Then the site was found, we laid the foundations down” Monument, Depeche mode

Ask your pupils to choose a small object from their own belongings. Photograph these objects from a number of angles, and print large versions of these objects. If you don’t have access to a camera, ask your pupils to draw the object from a number of angles onto separate sheets of paper – as large as possible. Can your pupils read other meanings into the object, once they are reproduced at a larger scale? Does a pencil sharpener suddenly become an office block when enlarged?

The orDer oF ThINGshow are the elements that make up our world categorised? how is knowledge structured? Who decides these things? What are the alternatives?

examples

Becky Beasley KORREKTUR (North Northwesterly) (And where, I asked myself, did Holler get the idea for this house of his, because I am fully aware that I got my idea, to build the Cone for my sister, from Holler and his house at the Aurach gorge. – Thomas Bernhard) 20107 black and white inkjet prints on Hah-nemühle photo rag 310 gsm paper using archival inks, pale yellow acrylic glass, Installation shot at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, 2010Courtesy Laura Bartlett Gallery, Londonon Display: Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery


Wolfgang Tillmans’ nine tables that make up the Truth Study Centre, display a number of items collected by the artist during 2010. Predominantly a photographer, Tillmans has made images using a camera, but also makes photographs without a camera, such as Freischswimmer 155 on display nearby. In Truth Study Centre, Tillmans uses found photography from sources such as newspapers and magazines, postage stamps, shopping catalogues, and also his own photography, to create an observation on the surrounding world – ‘pausing’ the present, and ultimately questioning structures of visual understanding. These found materials are updated when each incarnation of the Truth Study Centre is shown, meaning the work is in a constant state of flux.

activity “When the information comes, we’ll know what we’re made from” The Information, Beck

Choose a theme for your class, and ask them to collate as much information from different sources as possible – newspapers, magazines, the internet etc. This information can be collated onto a board in your school for others to see – perhaps create a ‘comments’ area for other students to leave their own personal response to the pupils work.

sIGNs oF chaNGeWhat makes the present the present? can we point to things that make now now? how was the future imagined in the past?

Wolfgang Tillmans Truth Study Centre (BAS) 2010 Wood, glass, mixed media,Installation shot at Nottingham Contemporary, 2010 Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London on Display: Peninsula Arts, Plymouth University

examplesBritish art show 7 Teachers pack

sarah lucas’ NUDS bring to mind art from the past, despite the unusual materials used to create the work. Whereas sculptors from the past such as Henry Moore or Barbara Hepworth may have used marble or wood, Lucas uses items more commonly found in a domestic setting – tights, fluff, breeze blocks. Where Moore and Hepworth may have represented or abstracted from the human figure, Lucas creates undulating, ambiguous sculptures that seem to reference these forms, but also are distanced from them. Similarly, the reference to ‘cycladic’ seems to relate to the Cycladic figurines of ancient Cyprus, though again the link is not immediately obvious, as Cycladic figures usually depict a figure with crossed arms.

orBITsWhat does it mean for artists to reference the art of the past? What does it mean when an ‘old’ idea resurfaces?

sarah lucasNUD CYCLADIC 32010Tights, fluff, wireCourtesy Sadie Coles HQ, Londonon Display: Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

activity “ When If you ever get close to a human, and human behaviour, be ready, be ready to get confused”Human Behaviour, Bjork Using found materials, create your own ambiguous human sculptures. Any tights could be used, so put a call out to parents to save any laddered tights for this activity. You may also be able to get tights from places like the Scrapstore, Union Street Plymouth. Similarly, old pillows and cushion material could be used to stuff the sculptures, or any foam that you may be able to get hold of. Again, the Scrapstore may be able to help with this.

Ask your pupils to ‘not’ make their sculptures look like an actual body – tie the tights up into tight knots, let them unfold themselves, start again. If you have access to a plinth, or something that could be used as a plinth (Lucas uses breeze blocks, but you may have some gym equipment in school, or old tables), place the sculptures on top and photograph them.

examplesBritish art show 7 Teachers pack

Further resourcesThis section will look at some objects in the collection of plymouth city museum and art Gallery that relate to the key themes of the exhibition.

please notesome of these items may not be on display at the same time as British art show 7.


pasT aND preseNTmany of the astronomical terms used in science today can have their origins traced back to ancient Greece. The development of astronomy by Greek and hellenistic astronomers is considered by historians to be a major phase in the history of astronomy.

a krator is an ancient Greek container used for mixing wine with water for use at a symposium - a forum for men to debate, and drink wine.

Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine, is depicted on the side of this krator. The constellation Aries is linked to Dionysus. As he was leading a campaign in Egypt, Dionysus’ troops were travelling through a sandy desert. They ran out of water and struggled to pass through the dry, difficult terrain of the desert. A ram appeared before them, rose up into the air, and landed behind a dune. When scouts sent by Dionysus reached the point where the ram landed, they found no animal there, only a spring of water. Dionysus ordered the building of a temple to Zeus where the spring rose from the sand. They linked this temple with the Egyptian god Amon Ra, so the temple of Zeus Amon was built to house a likeness of the ram in the form of a statue, and a likeness was also placed in the heavens in the form of the constellation Aries.

Krator300–325 BC, South ItalyPlymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, 1918.158© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

resourcesBritish art show 7 Teachers pack

eros, the ancient Greek god of love and beauty, is typically depicted as a beardless youth with wings. The constellation Pisces is linked to Eros. According to one Greek myth, Pisces represents the fish into which Aphrodite and Eros transformed in order to escape from the fire god Typhon. The two fish are joined at the tale with a cord so they don’t lose each other.

Typhon was also responsible for killing Dionysus, after the god of wine had been given the throne by Zeus. Typhon led the Titans, who wanted to kill Dionysus and take the throne for themselves. Zeus, enraged by these actions, killed the Titans and eventually defeated Typhon and trapped him beneath Mount Etna.

You may be able to spot another representation of Eros Riding a Dolphin above the gates of the Royal Marine Barracks, Durnford Street, Stonehouse, on your way to the Slaughterhouse.

Eros Riding a Dolphin300-250 BC, CyprusPlymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, 242.20.44© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery


By tradition, this magnificent cup was given to Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I in 1579, upon his return from circumnavigating the globe in the Golden Hind. The Drake Cup was presented by the Chairman of the Art Fund to the Mayor of Plymouth in 1942, in recognition of the courage and fortitude shown by the citizens of the city during the air-raids of WW2.

It depicts the terrestrial globe, engraved with a map of the world; the land is in gilt, the seas in silver, and the place names engraved in Latin. The cover is topped by a vase on which there is an armillary sphere – a model of objects in the sky.

Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. Cartography, or map making, was obviously very important to early explorers, as the accurate documentation of newly discovered places was often the most important reason why explorers were able to secure funding for their travels. Equally important was the ability to navigate using stars, hence the inclusion of both a terrestrial globe and armillary sphere on the cup.

The Drake Cupc. 1571Abraham Gessner (1552 – 1613)© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery: Buckland Abbey Collection

parallel realITIes can we imagine worlds different to our own? explorers in the past must have asked themselves this question many times throughout history.


Captain Cook and his crew on HMS Resolution certainly had to imagine worlds different from their own when setting off from Plymouth in 1772. The purpose of the expedition was to answer a very important question – was a there an unknown continent known as Terra Australis in the Southern Hemisphere? On an earlier voyage aboard HMS Endeavour, Cook had mapped most of the Eastern coast of Australia, which showed it as being continental in scale. Despite this, Cook and his crew were sent to search for Terra Australis once more.

Cook was the first to record direct observation of indigenous Australians, at a place he was to name Botany Bay. He also discovered and named many places, including the small island of South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands.

A Voyage to the Pacific OceanFrom the book ‘A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean … ‘ by Captain James Cook (1728 – 1779)London: 1784.3 vols., 69 plates, 16 maps, 1 tab. (vol. 3). 29cm.CB528© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery: Cottonian Collection


Iron pyrite, or Fool’s Gold, is an iron sulphite with the formula FeS2. Pyrite is the most common of the sulfide minerals. The name pyrite is derived from the Greek ‘purités’, “of fire” or “in fire”, from ‘pur’, “fire”. In ancient Rome, this name was applied to several types of stone that would create sparks when struck against steel. Pliny the Elder described one of them as being brassy, almost certainly a reference to what we now call pyrite.

The layout of the periodic table demonstrates recurring (“periodic”) chemical properties. Elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number (i.e., the number of protons in the atomic nucleus). As of 2010, the table contains 118 chemical elements whose discoveries have been confirmed. Ninety-four are found naturally on Earth, and the rest are synthetic elements that have been produced artificially in particle accelerators. Some elements listed on earlier versions of the table were still undiscovered when added, though they have since been discovered and given another name.

Iron Pyrite© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

The order of thingshow are the elements that make up our world categorised? many scientific classification systems have been developed over the years, though the ‘periodic table of elements’ is perhaps the most well known.


Visions of the future, science fiction, and thinking beyond our present location are not contemporary ideas. The book by Godwin is notable for the role it played in what was called the “new astronomy”, the branch of astronomy influenced especially by Copernicus. It begins with a prologue, with the main character Gonsales explaining how a voyage to the moon is no more fantastic an idea than a voyage to the Americas would have been a few years earlier. Godwin proposes that the earth is magnetic, and that only an initial push is needed to escape its magnetic field. The energy needed for this ‘push’ comes from the gansas, a specially bred swan with one webbed foot and one talon. Each year these birds migrate to the moon, and so in the illustration we see Gonsales’ flying machine powered by birds.

One way of demonstrating what makes the present ‘present’ is to look at the technology of the day. Technological advances over time - the creation of tools, pottery, transportation, buildings, electronics etc – are a kind of diary entry for human development. This book has been described as one of the first works of science fiction, but it was written at a time when fiction and non-fiction’s boundaries blurred, so Godwin was being read alongside Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler as pioneering works in the field of astronomy.

The Man in the Moon (L’Homme Dans La Lune)Illustration from the book The Man in the Moone: or a discovrse of a Voyage thither by Domingo Gonsales The speedy Messenger, by Francis GodwinLondon: 1638.CB650© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery: Cottonian Collection

resources

sIGNs oF chaNGehow was the future imagined in the past? artists, authors, poets and many others have all asked this question over the years within their various forms of expression.


Carving stone is one of the oldest techniques in art. The technique is essentially destructive – the artist removes stone from a larger block until they are happy with the form. The earliest stone carved objects we can consider works of art are probably around 30,000 years old, such as the ‘Venus of Galgunberg’. Most ancient cultures can also boast examples of carved stone sculptures, large or small, marble or other stone.

Marble from Carrara, Italy is considered to be one of the finest materials to carve. The Pantheon and Trajan’s Column in Rome are made from the material, as are Marble Arch in London and the famous sculpture David by Michelangelo. Hepworth wouldn’t have chosen this material without considering her sculpture in advance. She had already made sculptures from a number of different stones, woods, and metals, and so would have specifically chosen to purchase the marble for this work.

The reference to sculpture from the past is also not an accident. Hepworth’s sculptures often carry Greek and Roman mythological titles, and also biblical references in common with ancient sculpture and the finest renaissance sculptors work. Hepworth’s approach to these themes is different – gone are the representational sculptures of figures and scenes, replaced with abstracted figure-forms, geometry, and pierced holes.

Dame Barbara hepworthConstellation1973Carrara MarblePlymg: 1973.7© Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

orBITsWhat does it mean for artists to reference the art of the past? most artists will consciously or unconsciously make reference to work that has gone before them, or at least have taken influence from other artists during their career.


Ideas for activities at schoolall the activities in this section can be adapted for use in either primary or secondary settings.


What’s that smell?as well as being the subtitle for this exhibition, In the Days of the comet is also the title of a 1906 science fiction novel by h.G. Wells. In the novel there are recurring references to the presence of a large comet in the sky seen at night, which gives off a green glow that is brighter than the street lights. As well as a few nasty things happening within the book that we won’t go into here, the comet eventually enters Earth’s atmosphere. As it does, it releases a mysterious green fog that quickly envelopes people around the world, sending everyone to sleep.

When the people awake from this sleep three hours later, their opinions on a great many things have changed – wars are ended, borders between countries are relaxed, people are not so concerned about job titles or social differences. This becomes known in the book as the ‘Great Change’.

Imagine a ‘Great Change’ happening in your school. Ask your pupils which areas of their school life might be affected if this was to happen. How would Year 7 pupils and Year 13 pupils interact? Who would be in charge of the school? Who would be responsible for educating people in the future? How would they decide these things?

plymouth constellationThis activity is designed for your class to create their own constellation. What you will need:

— Map of Plymouth (showing the whole city)— Tracing paper or sheets of clear acetate— Felt pens— Ruler— Internet connection, or printed examples of constellation diagrams

Firstly, have a good look at the map, and work out some areas of the city that are really important to you. Think of things like, the location of your school, which swimming pool you go to, where your house, and your friends’ houses are, and where you have seen the art work on display for British Art Show 7.

Now lay the tracing paper or acetate over the top of the map. Mark the important places on the paper with a felt pen. Draw a small circle for each important place.

Take the map away from the paper. Using your ruler, join up the circles to create an interesting new constellation for Plymouth. Using examples on the internet, or printed versions of constellation diagrams, you might be able to spot an abstract image within your picture.

Now give this new constellation a name!

activities at schoolBritish art show 7 Teachers pack

12 labours, 3 chandeliers and a Tapestry Thinking again about Greek mythology and constellations — why not take a visit to plymouth’s Guildhall on your way between exhibition venues? Please call 01752 307764 to enquire about group visits to the Guildhall.

On the ceiling of Plymouth’s magnificent Guildhall, surrounded by mahogany panelling, maple flooring, glorious chandeliers, and a huge tapestry once owned by Napoleon III, you will find carvings depicting the ‘12 Labours of Hercules’. The carvings were made by a Plymouth sculptor called David Weekes.

The 12 Labours consist of a series of near impossible tasks designed to test the abilities of the Greek hero:

1 Slay the Nemean lion

2 Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra

3 Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis

4 Capture the Erymanthian Boar

5 Clean the Augean stables in a single day

6 Slay the Stymphalian Birds

7 Capture the Cretan Bull

8 Steal the Mares of Diomedes

9 Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon Queen

10 Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon

11 Steal the Apples of the Hesperides

12 Capture and bring back Cerberus

The prize offered to Hercules for achieving these tasks was the gift of immortality from Zeus – certainly a better prize than those on offer from a certain Mr Cowell’s X-Factor today!

The constellation named after this hero is the fifth largest constellation recognised today. It depicts Hercules as a kneeling warrior with a club or sword raised above his head.

What ‘12 Labours’ can you think of for a modern day Hercules to complete in order to gain immortality? Make a list and share it with the class.


another World, another planet Time for imaginations to run riot in the classroom!Imagine a new planet has recently been discovered very near to Earth, and the inhabitants of this planet have been invited over for a cup of tea to welcome them to our solar system.

What questions can we ask these beings from another planet, in order to find things out about the kind of place where they live?

— Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, do they have tea on their planet?

— What kind of environment do they live in?

— Is it warmer or colder on their planet?

— What do they make of British Art Show 7?

— Are there similar exhibitions on their planet?

super sundialsThis is an outdoor activity. you will need to find a place in the school grounds that gets the sun all day. All you need for this activity is a wooden or metal post that can be driven into a grassy area, or left on the playground without falling over.

Sundials are used to tell the time using the sun. A sundial works by casting a shadow in different positions at different times of the day. Mark on the ground where the shadow falls at each hour during the school day, either with pieces of string and pegs or with chalk on the playground.

Your children will notice that the shadow changes length during the day, and will also change length at different times during the year. Make a graph on a board in the classroom to record the lengths during the day. Why do they think the shadows change in length?

If you’re visiting the venues for British Art Show 7, why not walk past the large sundial in the city centre on your way to or from the Royal William Yard? This sundial has large time markers mounted on stone boxes. Why would a sundial have been placed in the middle of a city?


calendar conundrum compare the Gregorian calendar with other calendars from around the world, such as the chinese, hindu, Islamic, Iranian, or Bahá’í calendars. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used of all calendar systems, and is the calendar we use in the U.K. Most calendars are linked in some way to religion. Depending on where you are and what you believe in, the years, months and days on each of the calendars from around the world will differ from the Gregorian calendar in some way. In Plymouth, it is currently Friday 20th August 2010. If I was using the Iranian calendar, the year would be 1389. A similar thing would happen if I were using any of the other calendars.

All calendars are a form of measuring time – organising days for social, religious, commercial or administrative purposes. What limitations are there on the use of calendars as a system for measuring time? Think of British Summer Time and its relation to the Gregorian calendar, and also our need for leap years.

What other theories are there on the nature of time? Investigate ‘eternalism’ and compare it with the Buddhist ‘Dharmadhatu’. If you’re feeling really brave, have a look into ‘string theory’ and the theoretical physics of other dimensions. How would our current ways of systematically measuring time have to change if these theories were to become widely accepted?

Back to the Future Not just a great film from 1985 starring michael J Fox…Time travel has long been one of the greatest prizes in the world of modern science. As far as we know, it has not been achieved on anything larger than photons in a laboratory.

In the field of theoretical physics however, scientists have been able to propose their theories on how time travel to the past might be possible, which has lead to a number of ethical debates. The main theories are; being able to travel faster than the speed of light, using cosmic strings and black holes, and using wormholes.

Travel to the future is even more difficult for scientists to theorise, though many believe travelling faster than the speed of light in a different manner could lead towards it being theoretically possible.

Ask your class to get into groups of three and solve the mystery of time travel. Only joking!

Your class can split into two groups and have a debate on the ethics of time travel. What would you do if you met your own grandfather in the past? How could this affect the future? What would happen if you met yourself in the future? Would this even be possible?


Trip to the moon using the illustration from Francis Godwin’s 1638 book ‘The man in the moone’ as inspiration, why not design your own flying machine?

Your machine must include enough space within it to hold at least two astronauts, and important scientific equipment for experiments on the moon’s surface – but the rest is up to you.

Why not try to design eco-friendly machines? How about a rocket powered by solar power?

You’ll need to draw a plan view, three-quarter view (isometric), and cross section of your machines for it to be taken seriously by NASA – as all professional 3D designers would need to as well. You can either do this with pencils, paper and tracing paper, or if you have access to a computer program such as Google SketchUp (free for home use), why not try a Computer Aided Design version? If you’re very good with this program you should be able to import a photograph of your school, and ‘park’ your machines outside!

If you undertake this activity, we’d love to see your designs. Please email them to [email protected].


What can we do for you?We are able to offer schools various options when visiting the exhibition. Visits can be arranged for anywhere between one class to an entire school. In many cases, a member of staff can be present from the venues to facilitate your visit.

You can arrange a visit to one of the five venues, a combination of two or three venues, or all five venues in one day. Why not consider a British Art Show 7 week at school – art, science and history combined with visits to the various venues?

The exhibition provides a perfect opportunity for your pupils to experience contemporary art first hand – drawing in sketchbooks, fact finding, and exploring the themes that surround the exhibition.

how to book a visit.Booking is essential for visits to all venues. We want to ensure your group has the best experience possible at each of our galleries, so please remember to contact us first before organising your trip. We are very popular with schools, colleges and other user groups, so our galleries can get very busy from time to time.

For enquiries for school visits, contact [email protected]

Please have a range of possible dates available before contacting us, as it may not always be possible to offer you your first choice date.

We are able to provide areas for you to eat your lunch in two of our venues, however we cannot provide lunches for your pupils.

Please remember to bring along sketchbooks and pencils for your visit, as wet materials, and also dusty materials will not be permitted in the exhibition galleries. If you have any questions regarding materials, please contact us using the email above.

Divider page image credits

p2 (tinted detail of) Mick Peter, Moldenke Fiddles On, 2008-9, courtesy the artist and Galerie Crevecoeu

p7 (tinted detail of) Sarah Lucus, NUD (3), 2009, courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles.

p13 (tinted detail of) Wolfgang Tillmans, Truth Study Centre (BAS), 2010, wood, glass, mixed media, Installation shot at Nottingham Contemporary, 2010


Written by adam milford, learning officer (site Interpretation), plymouth city museum and art Gallery

Designed by thirteen.co.uk

Images courtesy hayward Gallery london plymouth city museum and art Gallery

For more information on British art show 7 www.plymouthbas7.org www.britishartshow.co.uk

Cover image

Wolfgang Tillmans Freischwimmer 155, 2010, ©the artist 2011, Courtesy of the artist and Maureen Paley, London

British Art Show 7: In The Days Of The Comet - Teachers Pack

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Transcript of British Art Show 7: In The Days Of The Comet - Teachers Pack