In Conversation: Conrad Shawcross RA
Tuesday 28 April, 7-8pm
Join the celebrated British artist Conrad Shawcross RA in the Kettle’s Yard house for an in conversation evening with the Science Museum’s Curator of Mathematical Sciences, Laura Joy Pieters.
Shawcross and Pieters will be discussing Shawcross’ wider practice and introducing his new public sculpture, Time Pebble, commissioned by Breakthrough Properties for the Vitrum by Breakthrough building at St John’s Innovation Park, part of the North East Cambridge Innovation Cluster, due for installation this summer. Their conversation will show the genesis of Time Pebble, beginning with Shawcross’ pilgrimage to the Holmdel Big Ear in 2008, the eccentric instrument with which cosmic microwave background radiation was observed, a key inspiration for this upcoming installation.
The evening will be of significance for those who are interested in the intersection between science and art, especially how art can be used to illustrate and to allow for further exploration of theories and ideas.
About Conrad Shawcross RA
Imbued with an appearance of scientific rationality, Conrad Shawcross RA’s often monumental sculptures explore subjects that lie on the borders of geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Inspired by different technologies, the artist’s structures may retain in appearance the authority of machines — yet their raison d’être remains elusive, filled with paradox and wonder. Shawcross has completed numerous monumental public commissions across the world, including Paradigm outside the Francis Crick Institute in London, the 18-metre tall Exploded Paradigm inside the atrium of the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia, and Manifold 5:4 at the Liverpool Street Entrance to the Elizabeth Line. He has exhibited at institutions across the world, including Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut, USA, the National Gallery in London, Château La Coste in France, and MICAS in Malta. You can enjoy Shawcross’ Cascading Principles exhibition in the wonderful setting of the Oxford Mathematical Institute. In 2024, the Friends of Kettle’s Yard visited his studio.
About Laura Joy Pieters
Laura Joy Pieters is a curator and moving image artist specialising in science and the nature of belief. She is the Curator of Mathematical Sciences at the Science Museum, London, where she is responsible for the museum’s historic collection of objects relating to astronomy, mathematics, and weighing and measuring. She is the lead curator of a major new gallery at the museum, due to open in 2027. Previously, she was part of the inaugural group of Young Leaders at Science Gallery London; in 2021, she was awarded a grant from Arts Council England for her project ‘Art, Science, and Afrofuturism’, and is now developing a feature film that expands on the themes of her practice.
Access and Further Information
The talk will take place in the lower extension of the Kettle’s Yard house. For access information, please see our access page.
Please note, for conservation and security reasons, no bags or large coats are allowed in the house. Please leave bags at home where possible. There is space to store bags at the Welcome Desk.
All proceeds support Kettle’s Yard. Refunds are not possible, unless the event is cancelled by Kettle’s Yard. Should the event sell out, please email friends@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk to join the waiting list.
Please note that refreshments are not provided.
