Phoenix Brighton

'SOLAR SYSTEMS'

in the North Gallery

Sept 3 – Oct 15

Wed - Sun 11am - 5pm

Preview Sept 2, 6 - 8pm

Solar Systems is a major exhibition by leading Brighton based digital artists and filmmakers, Semiconductor. It is curated by Lighthouse, in partnership with Phoenix Brighton, for Brighton Digital Festival.

Semiconductor examine our physical environment, using science and digital craft to create artworks that question our place in the natural world.

Solar Systems is their first major exhibition in the South East for four years. It draws together three recent installations that explore our relationship with the Sun. The three works use different technologies – photography, satellites, and CGI – to observe the interactions between our nearest star and the Earth.

Heliocentric is a stunning single channel digital video installation made from time-lapse photography and astronomical tracking of the Sun's trajectory across a series of landscapes. The highly acclaimed Black Rain uses images collected by the solar satellite STEREO, which studies the solar wind and the Sun's coronal mass ejections, as they head towards Earth.

The rarely seen Out of the Light is a time-based sculpture which shows how celestial events, such as a solar eclipse or the transit of Venus, can reveal themselves through the play of light and shadow.

These works are emblematic of the artists’ ongoing investigation of the natural world, which has resulted in major works on astronomy (Brilliant Noise, 2006), and geology (Worlds in the Making, 2011). Their unique approach has won them fellowships and residencies in significant scientific locations such as NASA’s Space Sciences Lab, the Galapagos Islands and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Their work is part of several international public collections and has been exhibited globally including Venice Biennale, The Royal Academy, Hirshhorn Museum, BBC, ICA and the Exploratorium.

UNNATURAL HABITATS

Photographs by Nicholas Pace

In the South Gallery

3 September - 15 October

Open Wednesday – Sunday 11 am – 5 pm

This series of large-scale images is based on dioramas and 18^th and 19^th century natural history cabinets of curiosity, and examines Western preoccupations with collecting, categorisation and display.