Scientific Stranger

This work : "A Sketch of Some Errors" was made for the exhibition "Scientific Stranger" which consisted of a series of digital collages. It is part of a larger project called Utopian Realism devised by Bridget Kennedy and Mair Hughes. They have been inspired by radical experiments that have taken place in rural areas of Mid Wales and North East England. The artistic research for this project found them exploring a North Pennine lead mine, helping to disassemble a wind turbine at the Centre for Alternative Technology and rummaging in the Newtown archives of industrialist turned social reformer, Robert Owen. The imagery they chose to work with reflects their encounters with Ecology, Geology, Phrenology, Futurology and some very unusual social engineering initiatives. Reinterpreting progressive and utopian ideas from the time of the industrial revolution such as communitarianism and educational reform, the two artists look for parallels to what is happening today, as we envisage another big societal shift – this time towards a less exploitative future.