Vision:
In 2005, responding to a close encounter, I sketched onto paper an idea I called StarDisc; a 21st century stone circle.
The name emulates the oldest known accurate picture of the night sky in history, the Nebra Star Disc, a Bronze Age plate inlaid with gold about the size of a vinyl LP, discovered in Germany in 1999, which archaeologists believe to be an astronomical instrument with religious significance dated to around 1600 BC.
My objective was to create a 40ft diameter illuminated star chart carved into black granite; a Celestial Amphitheatre that would inspire and instil wonderment. In 2008, having identified the ideal site in my hometown Wirksworth in the Derbyshire Dales, I intensified efforts to bring StarDisc into the world and set about gaining the necessary permissions, harnessing support, seeking partners and developing a fundraising campaign.
In 2011 with Arts Council England and Lottery funding, plus additional contributions from family, friends, colleagues and supporters, StarDisc was actualised. During construction my brothers and I scattered our mother’s ashes into the foundations.
The launch celebration was accompanied by an under the stars screening of Steven Spielberg’s classic film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
StarDisc draws on our ancient lineage, crossing cultural boundaries it
combines sacred space and futuristic vision, inviting people from all walks of life to gather, contemplate and connect with whatever resides beyond the sphere of our planet.
Since its launch, I have attempted to establish new StarDiscs, and while my efforts, and those of my collaborators, have not yet yielded further commissions, we continue to innovate creative ways to manifest our shared vision, an earth-bound constellation of StarDiscs.
At the heart of this endeavour is a threefold ethos:
■ Champion the unification of art, science and spirituality.
■ Celebrate diversity, common humanity and shared cultural heritage.
■ Cherish our home planet, the gift of life and our place amongst the stars..
In a world of conflict, chaos and confusion, there is an imperative to embrace those opportunities which unite people. StarDisc offers a non-religiously or politically divisive meeting place that accepts everyone and excludes no one. A Temple Without Walls roofed by the sky, where religion and secularism are equally and simultaneously relevant and irrelevant, where what unites us is our individuality, diversity and shared humanity, where we can speculate about the great unknown, be open to the unexpected, and just perhaps, encounter the extraordinary.
Themes:
Benefits:
