Walking Arts Research Group launch SOLAR: Walking At The Speed Of Light – exhibition open until 23 April

SOLAR: walking at the speed of light
SIA Gallery, 153 Arundel Street, S1 2NU
Wednesday 15 March – Sunday 23 April 2017
Open daily (including weekends, except Easter Bank Holiday 14-18 April)
Admission is free

SOLAR is a collaborative arts and technology project which maps the solar system across the city of Sheffield to the nearby Peak District through a series of specially commissioned artworks and a related walking app. An exhibition of the artworks will run from 15 March – 23 April 2017 at the SIA Gallery.

Six members of Walking Arts Research Group at Sheffield Hallam University were commissioned to produce new artworks in response to the eight planets of our solar system each of which they assigned to a location at a distance from the centre of Sheffield representing the relative orbit of the planet measured at a scale where the average walking speed represents the speed of light.

The artists worked in collaboration with external organisations Opus Independents and Epiphany VR to create a free, interactive app that guides a walking trail beginning with the Sun in the Peace Gardens and ending with Neptune situated in Woodlands Valley close to Snake Pass and Ladybower Reservoir.

The project is an extension of the research work of members of the ‘Media Arts Research Walking Group’ at Sheffield Hallam University that provides a collaborative space for the investigation of cross practice creative production linked to a range of walking practices.

The exhibition includes artworks by:
Susannah Gent
Michele Lazenby
Jeremy Lee
Mark Parkin
Andrew Robinson
Sonya Robinson
Annie Watson

SOLAR was a commission for the CATALYST Festival of Creativity, Sheffield supported by the Art and Design Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University.

The app is available by searching ‘Solar Sheffield’ on iOS and Android.