094543/Z/10/Z: Sun Dial: Night Watch

Project Summary:In the project 'Sun dial : Night watch', scientist Katharina Wulff and artist Susan Morris will create artwork for display at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Our aim is to raise public awareness of so-called 'social jetlag': the rising drift between our innate biological clock and manmade routines that modem society imposes upon us. The effects of electric lighting, of organising ourselves around a 'working day' and, more recently, of a 24-hour lifestyle, often operate at the expense of our natural sleep patterns. The ensuing conflict risks damage to both mental and physical heath. Using research techniques to capture the artist's sleep and work patterns over 365 days, we will produce three large multicoloured tapestries. Displayed at the hospital, these will stimulate thinking among the general public about the connections between body and lifestyle. An exhibition and an art-bioscience debate at an international research conference are also key activities.

Grant Holder:Dr Katharina Wulff

Organisation:University of Oxford

Financial Year:2010/2011