Cavendish Arts Science Fellowship at Girton College/

Pale Blue Dot Collective

+ Biographies

About Pale Blue Dot Collective

The Directors of Pale Blue Dot Collective are Louise Beer + John Hooper.

We endeavour to use our sound, moving image and photography practice to bring a new perspective about the detrimental impact of the climate crisis, not only to humanity but to all life and all environments. Framing the impact through the eyes of evolution and the immense time period it has taken for each form of life to arrive at this point, we want to create an open space for discussion around the damage we are collectively participating in. Through different lenses, we invite the viewer to share in our wonder of the natural world in order to better protect it.

Louise Beer

Louise lived in Aotearoa New Zealand until 2002 before moving to the UK and now works between London, Margate and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Louise Co-Directs four art collectives, Pale Blue Dot Collective, super/collider, Print Science and Lumen.

Using installation, moving image, photography and sound to explore humanity's evolving understanding of Earth’s environments and the cosmos, Louise creates objects and experiences that reflect the incomprehensible nature of reality, from the ocean floor to the night sky.

Louise has exhibited extensively across the UK and internationally. In 2019, Louise was the lead artist on a super/collider x Sail Britain sailing residency which aimed to promote a wider understanding of ocean plastic and in the same year joined the Somewhere Nowhere Residency at the Lake District, on a specially funded place by Dark Skies Cumbria. In 2020, Louise was awarded the BigCi Environmental Art Award in 2020 and a residency at the Arts Centre Christchurch Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Aotearoa New Zealand with her collective, Pale Blue Dot Collective. Louise has recently completed the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics x Artypical Space Art Summer School 2020 and the Delfina Foundation Science Technology Society UK Associateship which is in association with the Gaia Foundation. Louise was awarded a SECCADs grant in 2020 to contribute to the cost of setting up a new studio, Bright Island Studio, in Thanet. In 2021, Louise was awarded a DYCP grant from Arts Council England to develop her studio practice and the North York Moors National Park Dark Skies Residency, including a solo exhibition.

Within her collectives, Louise has curated over 50 exhibitions and 70 events with overarching focus on astronomy and/or ecology. Louise has collaborated with and curated events and workshops at organisations such as the Science Museum, Bompas and Parr, Greenman Festival, British Science Association, Second Home, the Ace Hotel, Floating Cinema, The Collective, Tate Britain, SALT Festival Norway, Soho House Group, Nablus Festival Israel, Blue Dot Festival, Young and Serious and Vivid Projects, Hebrides Dark Sky Festival and the Turner Contemporary. Louise is currently curator and producer at SEISMA Magazine for an upcoming event series on astrophysics.

John Hooper
John Hooper is a photographer, film maker and sound artist. John is co-director of Pale Blue Dot Collective, Print Science and is a regular contributor to super/collider. 

John started his photography career shooting editorial for music and lifestyle magazines. John's experience as a photographer and director of photography has led him to collaborate on projects for numerous commissions. He has been using his photography and sound practice to discover the natural world and the vastness above.

For much of his career John has been a successful commercial photographer. Recently making a concerted effort to concentrate on his work as an artist, John has successfully applied for Arts Council England funding to develop his creative practice. He has also been awarded support from SECCADS enabling him to invest in digital equipment to use for photography and film making. Later this year he will be accompanying Louise to Australia for the BigCi Environmental Art Award residency in the Blue Mountains. Together with Louise for their Pale Blue Dot Collective, they are working on an exhibition with the Arts Centre Christchurch Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Aotearoa New Zealand, the results of a residency in 2020. In 2021, John was shortlisted for the Science Photographer of the Year, for his image of an Iceberg in the glacial lake of the Tasman Glacier in New Zealand and also awarded an ACE DYCP grant to make a step change in his sound practice.

In 2021, Pale Blue Dot Collective have been selected for The Margate School Art, Society and Nature Photography Residency and the SEISMA Magazine Astrophysics commission.

+ Portfolio

Floating in Space

This series of images was developed during a residency at The Margate School titled Art, Society, Nature: Photography Residency 2021.

Pale Blue Dot Collective created a series of images depicting how solitary beings are all connected, using images of under the water surface shot in Walpole Bay, and the night sky shot in Margate and Minster. 

Our photographic folio examines the parallels between floating in the ocean and Earth moving through our solar system. The work is contemplative in nature, as we investigate the giant landscape of the sea-life and plant-life that lives in Walpole Bay, removing our human-centric scale, to the glittering dark skies of Margate. We invite the viewer to imagine how we fit into our ecosystem, and how our ecosystem fits into the cosmos. This work explores the fragile nature of our coastal area. For some, the virus has been an incredibly isolating experience. This work shows the connection between all of us, as we stand and gaze over the horizon, or towards our galaxy. 

Alongside this photographic work, we created a soundscape using a hydrophone to record the movement of the waves and sound recorders for life above the waterline. We aim to create work that can engage those of us with visual impairments too.

Under the Fading Light

It’s hard to imagine not knowing that Earth isn’t the centre of the universe, or that there aren’t other galaxies. It has taken thousands of years of knowledge building to begin to understand the size of our universe, or the amount of stars, galaxies and planets that we share it with.

Louise Beer
I grew up under an immensely starry night sky. Every time I saw the Milky Way, I was electrified inside with the ideas of the vastness of the universe, and the infinite possibilities that might exist. Under that starlight, I really felt like we were collectively looking outwards, trying to unpick the mysteries of the universe and basking in its magnificence. It was clear that I was standing on an oasis of life, looking into the uninhabitable darkness. I was part of something bigger than my immediate environment.

I moved to cities in the UK as a teenager, and have felt the change in my view as a significant loss. The images in the film contain two images, taken six months apart. The first image is from the Mackenzie Country in New Zealand, and the second image was taken in Elephant and Castle, in London.

When most people talk about seeing the Milky Way - they are referring to the ‘core’ of the Milky Way. it is not only down to air and light pollution that the view from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are different. The central band of the Milky Way is directly overhead in the Southern Hemisphere, but in the Northern hemisphere it stays lower down towards the horizon, which makes the stars less visible. It will take roughly 125,000 years for our solar system to rotate around the centre of the Milky Way to begin to see a similar sky in the Northern Hemisphere.

I am interested in how we lose our cosmic perspective of the incomprehensible value of nature, when we lose our cosmic view. Based on observations from the Suomi NPP satellite, a third of humankind cannot see the Milky Way. We are creating ever more light pollution that disguises our view each year.

It has been suggested that the biological world is organised largely by light. The way that the Earth rotates creates a regular cycle of day and night, and it’s orbital motion and tilt of its axis causes seasonal changes. Along with local weather systems and the lunar cycle, these light conditions have been consistent for immense periods of geological time. Flora and fauna have relied on these environmental cues for ecological processes and our artificial lighting is having a devastating impact.

It is impacting migration patterns, wake-sleep habits, and habitat formation. The same light attracts and kills huge swathes of insects and disorientates birds. It is not only land based life forms that are being affected; coastal and ship lights are altering marine eco systems.

I wanted to draw a meaningful connection between each person on Earth, and the destruction of our Environment. Living in light polluted cities, it is very easy to forget to look up. It is even easier to forget that we are on a planet, that is a single, fragile, eco system.

Underwater Stream

A piece made using field recordings and processed with Audacity and Reaper. The piece was made to represent an underwater world with space and a narrative where the listener can imprint their own ideas onto it.

Astronomical Images

We are lucky to still be able to see many near earth objects from our position in Margate. Looking out over the sea we have less light pollution to contend with. How long before we are locked into our own little world? We at Pale Blue Dot Collective take our view of the heavens as one of humanities greatest gifts. Without this view and the wonderment that comes with it much of humanities advances would never have happened. When Galileo turned his telescope towards the sky he unlocked a series of developments which have influenced almost all of our modern lives.

The Sun photographed from our home in June 2020.

Rising Moon

These images endeavour to capture a memory of a night sky; the glimpses of shapes in the distance or the after image of a bright moon against the dark sky. As we cut ourselves off from natural darkness and the wonder and power of a view of a night sky full of stars, we are completely reshaping the environment for other species too.

Infinite Journey

The film visualises a segment of an interstellar object’s journey through the vastness of space. The ambiguity of the rocks purpose is key. Does the object carry life, with the capacity to take it from one place to another? Does the rock continue on an endless journey, never making contact with any other surface? Will any life form ever witness the rocks journey?

A Memory of Darkness

The Delfina Foundation x Gaia Art Foundation
UK Associateship

Louise Beer

I spent my residency at the Delfina Foundation x Gaia Art Foundation expanding my research into the environmental and philosophical impacts of light pollution, and our disappearing access to natural darkness. I spoke to many scientists, artists and writers about these subjects during this period.

As part of the science_technology_society programme, I created an online listening event called A Memory of Darkness. Audience members were invited to sign up to the event using their address, and were posted a print of my image with instructions on how to access the secret link, and an eye mask to wear during the event. Over 100 people joined from all over the world during the event, and many submitted a response to my submission form about their experience of the night sky after the event.

Event Description
’As the sun sets over the enormous volcanic landscape of the remote Hinewai Reserve in Aotearoa New Zealand, the sky begins to reveal an infinite display of stars and planets, appearing like heavy lights against a pitch-black sky.

As a result of light pollution, many of us across the globe have lost our night-time view of the Milky Way, which can have a philosophical impact on the way we see our ecosystems. When we can no longer look outwards and see our galaxy, we lose a sense of the scale of the emptiness, the expanse of the darkness, and by contrast, the sheer magnificence and fragility of our natural world.

The short live broadcast, A Memory of Darkness, comprises a sonic piece created using field recordings of bird song from Louise’s recent experience at Hinewai Reserve, in her native Aotearoa New Zealand. Alone, looking outwards over the Pacific Ocean, as the warm breeze rustled the native trees nearby and the Rurus (Morepork owls) sang out into the night, the artist experienced overwhelming feelings of both wonderment and environmental grief in equal measure.

The artist invites participants from across the world – who will receive instructions by post – to join her to collectively listen to this new sound piece and recall our own memory of the darkness, considering its significance. The field recordings in this piece were made during Louise’s recent residency at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora.’