Recorders at Manchester Art Gallery

Today we have been real home educators and been on an educational outing to the Manchester Art Gallery, mainly to experience the exhibition by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, which consisted of a series of installations designed to interact with the visitors, so that the people become part of the work of art. This one below records people' heart rate and then puts the pulse into one of the lightbulbs suspended from the ceiling, so you have a room full of hanging bulbs all pulsating at a slightly different rate. The bulb that is 'you' moves across the room each time a new person records their heart rate until it is gradually removed from the exhibit by new participants.
This next photo is in a room with bright projection lights that cast huge shadows on the wall; or huge if you stood near, small if you stood further away. Here are Julie and I holding hands with a giant baby Althea. Julie took some much better photos of giant people squashing little people, and everyone had fun in moving about in front of the lights.

p.s. (Friday 28th)

If you pop over to Dunk's Blog he has posted the short video he took of the lightbulb exhibit and a video of the artist himself discussing his work.

In other family news my cousin Saul recently published a very intellectual sounding book about Michel de Montaigne, a 16th century philosophical essay writer influential during the Renaissance. I get to feel clever just by dint of being related to such highfalutin pursuits. It does sound an interesting read, and there is also an article he wrote for The Guardian if you would like just a little taste of the ideas in the book.