THE SEDGWICK TAPES
Helen Gilbart
Artist in Residence, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge.
Since 1999 Helen Gilbart has been exploring aspects of evolution through a collaborative artist residency with Earth Scientists in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. The outstanding, internationally renowned palaeontology collections within the department’s Sedgwick Museum have been pivotal to this collaboration.
So much about evolution is unclear. Major geological events occurring over a vast timescale limit available evidence. The countless breath taking, innovative feats throughout; some pivotal, others less so, have all had an impact. Each potential evolutionary step has heralded both defeat and opportunism.
In revealing a common ancestry and the inexorable relatedness of all life, the fossil record also suggests how potentially different evolution might have been. The Sedgwick Tapes focuses on specific novelties in the fragile, rich and overwhelming history that has shaped life past, present and its potential future.