In his customary pose as the grumpiest of grumpy old men, Raymond Briggs contemplates old age and death… and doesn’t like them much. Because the stars aren’t a theme park where you throw a euro in and get what you want.’ See to find out whether 25 September will go ahead and if not, when instead.An extraordinary exploration of old age in words and pictures, by the much-loved author of The Snowman and Ethel & Ernest. ‘We’ve got a few alternative dates up our sleeves. But what about the other days?’ Speaking of which: What if it’s cloudy on 25 September? How will we look at the stars in 15 years’ time? What will a lamppost look like then? Will it have a shade on top so that the light only shines downwards, thus reducing light pollution? Will billboards be turned off after midnight? Should the lights at all those closed petrol stations stay on? These are just a few examples. ‘We don’t know what we’re going to see but we’re going to explore this together. Several other cities are interested in Seeing Stars: delegations from cities like Stockholm, Venice and Reykjavík are coming to Leiden on 25 September to see how it goes.’ What will it achieve? Take the global Dark Sky Association, which has been fighting light pollution since 1988, or Earth Hour, where people all around the world switch off their lights for an hour. ‘Delegations from cities like Stockholm, Venice and Reykjavík are coming to Leiden on 25 September to see how it goes’ – Daan Roosegaarde And the good thing about Seeing Stars is that by taking away we get more. We have to look for a new harmony with nature. The chips I need for my projects have run out. See for yourself: we were promised abundance and then everything would be fine. There used to be an abundance, of everything, but those days are over. Obviously light is necessary but there’s a lot of bullshit light, light that makes me think: why? And no one knows the answer. ‘A designer is usually asked to add something but I’m only taking something away here. If everyone joins in and turns off their own lights, this will only be more!’ What can we do about light pollution? We already saw loads more stars than usual. We had a successful test run at the end of August where all the street lights were switched off. The organisers are busy reaching out and mobilising people. And we’re calling on all housing associations, for instance, to switch off their main lights for an hour and a half. We hope everyone will join in: the residents of course but also shopkeepers. ‘It takes a lot to switch off all the lights. What does it take to turn off a city’s lights? The Seeing Stars project was previously carried out in Franeker Children will be able to lie down in it and look at a simulated starry sky, so they can learn in advance what they’ll see on 25 September.’ For instance, in the weeks leading up to Seeing Stars Leiden, a large mobile planetarium will visit primary schools. In Leiden, city of art and science, teaching and research play a significant part. It will be a bit more difficult in Leiden. But we have switched the lights off once before, in Franeker. Exciting isn’t it?’ That sounds almost too easy. There was even supposed to have been a light switch from that time that would turn off all the lights at once. ‘A story has it that Oort also wanted to switch off the lights in Leiden to make it easier to see the stars from his Old Observatory Leiden. It’s one of the easiest pollutants to solve – Seeing Stars is one switch away. We want “stargazing” to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. But light pollution is high 80 per cent of the world’s population doesn’t see the stars. There is a beautiful light performance going on right above our heads. It is lit by thousands of twinkling stones.ĭaan Roosegaarde at Old Observatory Leiden The ‘Van Gogh bicycle path’ in North Brabant, inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night, is one of his most famous artworks. He develops projects in which art and technology come together: ‘technopoetry’ as he calls it himself. Seeing Stars is a good fit for not only Leiden, where leading astronomers like Ewine van Dishoeck conduct research and teach students, but also Roosegaarde. ‘Leiden responded very warmly, thanks in part to UNESCO’s enthusiasm and the fact that Leiden is European City of Science in 2022,’ says Roosegaarde. After an appeal by TV presenter Beau in his eponymous TV show, more cities signed up. Last year, Franeker was the first city where Studio Roosegaarde, as his design studio is called, turned off the lights. ‘We were living in isolation and I was looking for a way to make the world bigger, to bring us all together. ‘The idea began to take shape during the pandemic,’ says artist and inventor Daan Roosegaarde.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |