Science and art are perfect mix at Seaton Delaval Hall

Jul 6 2010 by David Whetstone, The Journal

A NEW attraction at one of the region's stately homes might bear comparison with The Day of the Triffids or The War of the Worlds.

But science fact rather than science fiction inspired the sculpture CO2morrow which is to be erected at Seaton Delaval Hall this week.

Rather than discussion about the classic thrillers by Wyndham Lewis and HG Wells, the organisers hope it will turn people’s thoughts to the current debate about energy generation and use.

The aluminium sculpture was commissioned from artist Marcos Lutyens and collaborator Alessandro Marianantoni by the National Trust and the Royal Academy of Arts.

As its title suggests, the light-based work is sensitive to data relating to carbon dioxide, one of the factors behind global warming.

Apparently based on the form of a ‘scrubber molecule’ designed to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, its LED lights respond to information received and change colour accordingly.

Blue means a low level of the greenhouse gas, violet a higher and more polluting level.

CO2morrow has had only one previous showing, last year when it was suspended from a wall of the Royal Academy of Arts in London as the centrepiece of an exhibition called Earth: Art of a Changing World.

Seaton Delaval Hall, which the National Trust recently purchased after a fundraising campaign, will be only the second venue for CO2morrow.

Marcos Lutyens, great great nephew of the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who renovated Lindisfarne Castle in the early 1900s, recently paid his first visit to the North East to see Seaton Delaval Hall.

“I thought it was a stunning building,” he said. Obviously it has been through a lot but it has this amazing feel to it.

“What I found particularly interesting was that although it has this fantastic history, the view is of Blyth which is very forward-looking in terms of new technologies. I thought it was a really good place for the sculpture to go.”

Blyth has an offshore windfarm and is home to the national renewable energy centre, NaREC.

Marcos, who is based in Los Angeles, said he studied social sciences in Edinburgh but later gravitated towards fine art. “I’m interested in how we are affected by things around us and the synergy between art and science,” he said.

“I think art can help to communicate information in a way that the scientific community sometimes finds difficult to do.”

Marcos, whose father is chairman of the Lutyens Trust, said he has also inherited a love of architecture.

But he revealed that the name CO2morrow is currently something of a misnomer.

At present, he said, the piece is responding not to current atmospheric readings but to historic data from the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory attached to the University of East Anglia.

Catherine Atkinson, property manager at Seaton Delaval Hall and Lindisfarne Castle, said: “During the consultation we carried before acquiring the hall, people told us they wanted to use the space for many varieties of art.

“This exhibition is at the forefront of contemporary art and we’re interested to see how people react.”

She added that the National Trust was always looking to reduce its impact on the environment.

“Seaton Delaval Hall being a new acquisition for the Trust, it poses a lot of opportunities to make it a beacon of stainability for the future.”

CO2morrow goes on view to the public on Friday and will be in place until the end of October.