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"Tell the chef, the beer is on me."
The Australian artist reflects on her underwater film, Coral: Rekindling Venus, which premieres to coincide with a rare astronomical event
Timing is always important in art but it is nothing less than crucial when your project is tied to an event so rare that it will happen next month – and then not again for 105 years.
The Australian artist Lynette Wallworth is in that position. She spoke of her hugely ambitious film work that has been five years in the making and will be premiered next month as part of the London 2012 festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. "It is a call to action," she said. "A harking back to a possibility."
It is inspired by a rare astronomical event, Venus's transit of the sun, when that planet passes directly between the sun and Earth. The transits come in pairs, few and far between – 2004, 5-6 June this year and then not again until 2117 and 2125. The previous pair was in 1874 and 1882 and before that 1761 and 1769.
It is the 18th-century transits that have particularly fascinated Wallworth because they led to what was perhaps the first example of worldwide scientific co-operation.
One of the big challenges of the age was to work out how big the solar system was and how much distance was there between Earth and the sun. One man occupied with the question was English astronomer Edmund Halley who speculated that observing the transit from extreme parts of the globe would help scientists come close to the calculation.
"He also knew he wouldn't live to see it," said Wallworth. "That was the part of the story that, in the beginning, hooked me in."
Halley wrote a letter to the Royal Observatory, the astronomers of the future, "begging them that when the time came they would go in ships around the world to observe this event".
And they did. It has a resonance today because it was not a problem that could be solved in one place; observers had to be all over the planet – around 120 in 1761 (French, British, Danish, Swedish, German, Italian, Portuguese) and an even more in 1769. It was the reason Captain Cook was in Tahiti.
Some remarkable things happened. The French allowed British ships safe passage, even though the two countries had recently been at war and were far from friends. "It was an undertaking that was for the benefit of all humanity," said Wallworth. "An attempt by countries to act globally for a scientific problem. It was amazing … beautiful, sort of mind boggling. There are so many moments that caught me as an artist."
That inspired her to make a "call to action" film showing the extraordinary, almost alien beauty of coral reefs – one barometer of climate change. "Coral is the canary in the coalmine of the ocean," the artist said. "They can handle very little temperature change. It is impossible for us to imagine a sky without stars but we have to be able to contemplate an ocean without coral and they are extraordinary communities."
Wallworth commissioned filming by underwater cinematographers, including the Emmy award-winning Australian David Hannan who shot around three-quarters of it. The film is strange and beautiful to look at and will be even more incredible for viewers as it will be shown at planetariums across the world.
"People will think they are in space, think they are moving through stars," said Wallworth.
Almost trance-inducing music has come from artists including Antony and the Johnsons and the Australian Aboriginal singer Gurrumul.
Wallworth said the film is "a harking back to a possibility. Is there a way to think forward, like Halley did, in terms of imagining what we might need to do? Is there a possibility of acting in unison?"
The film will initially be shown at planetariums in 25 cities across the world but Wallworth hopes it will have a life beyond that. She said: "I'm hoping it will build a new audience and that is part of what makes it exciting."
• Lynette Wallworth's Coral: Rekindling Venus will launch on 6 June and be shown at the Royal Observatory planetarium in Greenwich, London from 7 June-6 July and the Birmingham planetarium at various dates in June.
Taking pictures of ancient trees allows us to share and document their connection to our past – and preserve their place in our future
• Send your photos of ancient trees to our Flickr group
In the small Dorset village of Tolpuddle there is a sycamore tree on a patch of green, just a short stroll from a pub. This gnarled old tree is a key player in a compelling story. It is here that a group of agricultural labourers met to discuss demands for better pay, in effect creating the first ever trade union. The rest is history. Already more than 150 years old when the labourers met under this tree in the 1830s, it's still going strong with loving help.
Ancient trees with rich tales can be found across the UK. They are the silent witnesses to the story of these isles that we live on.
But how do we know what an ancient tree is? An ancient tree is one which is very old in comparison with other trees of the same species. There is no strict definition as to what age a tree must be to be considered ancient, but a 600-year-old oak tree or 300-year-old beech tree would qualify. Yew trees can live for several thousand years and oak and sweet chestnut for 1,000 years or more.
From the symbolic and much-loved oak to the majestic beech, trees connect us to our past and will be here for future generations to enjoy. They have provided us with shelter and played a key part in powering the expanding military and fuelling the industrial revolution.
They have played a key part in our history. It was under a yew tree at Runnymede in Berkshire that the Magna Carta was signed. A flower of Kent apple tree in the grounds of Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire proved decisive in Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravity.
In many ways they are taken for granted. Unlike our built heritage with its listings status and preservation orders, ancient trees have no such protection. They remain potentially vulnerable to damage and neglect.
The National Trust is currently carrying out an audit of all its ancient trees, thought to number around 40,000 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This data will then be fed into the Ancient Tree Hunt which will provide us with, for the first time ever, a clear picture of where these titans of nature can be found.
This island really is a superpower when it comes to its ancient trees. We escaped the ravages of conflict that blighted mainland Europe in the 20th century and many of our older trees have survived the race to modernise. It's hard to imagine our countryside without these wise old trees.
Stand next to any ancient tree and you get that sense of wonder at the sights and sounds it will have witnessed down the generations. They provide a sense of reassurance, majesty and power. These trees have been the centre of communities down the ages as places to gather and their loss is something that affects everyone.
Capturing these wonders of the natural world on camera has endless possibilities. Their location and prominence in the landscape can create moody and atmospheric pictures. Whether they are in a church yard, one of many in parkland or isolated in a farmer's field. Close–up shots will find a deeper meaning in their bark and the creatures, such as beetles and woodpeckers that call them home or the fungi and lichen that cling to their trunks and branches.
It's also worth thinking of taking pictures of ancient trees in the same way as portraiture photography. They all have their own unique characteristics and can create wonderful and iconic images.
There is something really special about ancient trees which captivates and intrigues us. Taking photographs of these figures in the landscape allows us to share and document what they mean to society.
• Send your photos of ancient trees to our Flickr group
• Brian Muelaner is the National Trust's ancient tree adviser.
When the Library decided to restore a 15th-century book, the process
was documented. Follow the conservation treatment undertaken on the
15th-century English manuscript
"Pilgrimage of the life of man, and pilgrimage of the soul"
for the exhibition The medieval imagination.
Read the transcriptThis Pilgrim's progress video is presented on a black background with floral detail reflecting a medieval illustrative motif around the edges of the screen. Images and captions describe the conservation process of one of the Library's medieval manuscripts.
The Library’s conservation section undertook major conservation treatment of the 15th-century English manuscript Pilgrimage of the life of man, and Pilgrimage of the soul for the exhibition The medieval imagination.
Extensive damage to the vellum leaves and brittle glue on the folds of the spine made it very difficult to handle and display without causing further damage to this precious item, so after much research and discussion it was decided to treat and rebind the manuscript.
Image of manuscript being disbound from damaged 17th-century binding. The disbound sections showed a thick layer of animal glue on vellum folds.
The vellum leaves on left have been cleaned and repaired.
Extensive research into the repair method of the vellum leaves was undertaken by senior conservator Jane Hinwood. A team of five conservators spent weeks repairing the vellum pages in preparation for rebinding.
While it was unbound it was possible to carry out a scientific analysis of the pigments and inks.
Deborah Lau, analytical conservation scientist from the CSIRO, undertook non-destructive x-ray fluorescence analysis and azurite, vermillion and tin-lead yellow were positively identified in the text and illuminations.
Image of equipment used in the analysis.
In-depth research into English medieval binding and discussion with conservation colleagues from the UK fed into the decisions about how to rebind the manuscript.
Book conservator Ian Cox sewed together the repaired sections of the manuscript on a sewing frame.
Image of the completed sewn textblock with endbands.
Then, boards were prepared and attached to the textblock.
Once the boards are attached, the manuscript is ready for covering.
The next step is attaching an alum tawed leather cover. Damp goat skin is tied up with linen thread in a finishing press to form pronounced raised bands.
To finish the covering, the manuscript's alum tawed goat skin, adhered to boards, is trimmed. The textblock is wrapped in wax paper for protection. Archival materials were used in the binding which will protect this precious collection item for the future.
The manuscript was successfully rebound using a non-adhesive binding style and covered with white alum tawed goat skin, sympathetic in appearance with a 15th-century English medieval manuscript.
Image of the re-bound manuscript open on a workbench.
Book conservator Ian Cox holds the completed manuscript at a workbench in the conservation laboratory.
William Hill giving odds that Jeremy Hunt will not save 'historic' 1980s complex from demolition for new UBS headquarters
Expectations have increased that furious lobbying from the City is likely to prevent the listing of the 1980s-built complex in Broadgate that has become a tug of war between financiers and conservationists.
For the first time bookmaker William Hill has opened a book on a building listing and is giving 4-7 that culture secretary Jeremy Hunt will not save the complex.
English Heritage last week recommended that the entire 1980s development, designed by architect Peter Foggo, be given statutory protection at Grade II* level, dealing a major blow to British Land's plans to tear down 4 and 6 Broadgate to make way for a new "groundscraper" building that would house a £340m headquarters for Swiss bank UBS.
Although the law states that the listing decision should be made on the basis of architectural and historic factors alone, Hunt is under pressure from the City of London corporation to ignore his official adviser and choose not to list it.
The City argues that the new scheme is vital to maintain confidence in it as a banking centre. Hunt's decision on Broadgate is due in about two months' time, after submissions from British Land, the local authority and other interested parties.
A spokesman for William Hill said this was the first time it had offered odds in a listing case. "We believe this decision will be as difficult to call as a photofinish but English Heritage needs to upset the odds to come out on top."
The City of London Corporation had approved British Land's 700,000 sq ft scheme, and building was to start this summer, with UBS planning to move in by 2014. The corporation's policy chairman, Stuart Fraser, is due to meet communities secretary Eric Pickles next week to lobby for the UBS building. He said: "The Broadgate buildings aren't worth preserving or listing. They aren't of great architectural merit. Listing Broadgate will send out the wrong message. UBS would probably give up. Eric Pickles is very keen on bureaucracy not getting in the way of economic development."
Catherine Croft, director of heritage group The Twentieth Century Society, which is campaigning in favour of listing, expressed surprise at the odds. "I think it is fairly extraordinary because it suggests that William Hill thinks factors other than the accepted criteria [for listing] may affect the minister's decision," she told weekly trade paper Building Design.
"City boys do like gambling of course but Hunt needs to make his decision on the basis of architectural and historic interest. It would be very wrong for him to be affected by any other factor."
Croft added that she believed there were many other locations in the City suitable for the proposed UBS building, which has been designed by one of the architects responsible for the Gherkin, Ken Shuttleworth of Make Architects.
The planned building, at 5 Broadgate, would boast four trading floors each capable of holding 750 traders and has been described by Shuttleworth as an "engine of finance" with a design resembling an immense machine-tooled block of aluminium.
A spokesman for Hunt's Department of Culture, Media and Sport, noted that it was responsible for regulating both heritage and gambling. "It is always good to see two areas of DCMS come together but, as we always say when it comes to gambling, don't bet more than you can afford to lose," he said.
"Tell the chef, the beer is on me."
"Basically the price of a night on the town!"
"I'd love to help kickstart continued development! And 0 EUR/month really does make fiscal sense too... maybe I'll even get a shirt?" (there will be limited edition shirts for two and other goodies for each supporter as soon as we sold the 200)