Have you ever considered how important light and darkness are to our experience of time?

The rhythms of ecologies, environments and bodies (human and non-human alike) are driven by the movement of the Earth around the Sun. The Earth’s daily rotation on its axis and its annual orbit of the Sun orchestrates biologies, behaviours and life cycle events of all living things.

Through the use of artificial light, humans have freed themselves from the natural cycles of light and dark. In doing so, we have disrupted age-old ecologies, bird migrations, sleep patterns, health, and more.

Meanwhile, we have become so accustomed to light at night that we barely notice its presence – in fact, we are more likely to notice its absence. Light reassures us, while darkness is often associated with feelings of discomfort, perhaps fear.

The Dark Skies Luminous Nights project (led by the University of Lancaster) explores all of these aspects around light and dark and all the shades in between.

Join us at RSPB Leighton Moss to learn more!

We are inviting you to participate in a free workshop (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Impact Acceleraton Account) on the 2nd or 3rd of March (3.15pm–6.30pm). The event will be led by researcher, artist, and designer Dr Rupert Griffiths, astronomer Dr Hannah Dalgleish, and ceramic artist Kath McDonald from King Street Arts in Lancaster.

The event will include:

talks on the relationships between light and dark and living things
hands-on, creative activities with clay to explore night-related concepts
a demonstration of some of the special light sensors and cameras being used to study light from the sky
concluding with a guided night walk of the grounds
Some of the activities will be outside, so please wear warm clothing!