An essay by
Helen Birmingham

INTRODUCTION

Recent advances in science and technology have produced amazingly diverse views of the world, from satellite pictures to electron microscope images and beyond. But what greater vision was ever given to the world than the insight of Charles Darwin?
As an individual I have never doubted the truth of evolution. At times in my life when I have sought the strength which comes from a shared belief, evolution is not found wanting – what greater shared experience is there than being ancestrally connected to every other living thing!

The concluding paragraph to Charles Darwin‘s “The Origin of Species” acts as a wonderful introduction to this essay:

“... whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”


Section One
GEOLOGY AND FOSSILS



The crust of the earth with its embedded remains must not be looked at as a well-filled museum, but as a poor collection made at hazard and at rare intervals”. Charles Darwin

The earth is a restless planet and change is part of its nature. Enormous changes happen through millions of small events over time, or through catastrophic events with terrifying speed, each leaving layer upon layer of evidence in an ordered, if incomplete, sequence. In his book “Principles of Geology” in 1830 Charles Lyell had recognised that “the slow action of vast forces creates gradual change.” Darwin’s frustration with this daring, yet persuasive idea was that “The noble science of Geology loses glory from the extreme imperfection of the record.”

As an artist I ask myself - what action am I playing upon the surface? Sedimentation, erosion or volcanic activity? How do I record the history of my actions? Should I be maintaining a well-filled museum of “fossil records” equivalent to each stage of the creation, or do I accept that historic evidence will be recorded “layer upon layer” within the surface of the piece? I have the luxury of self-determination. I can choose to use repeated images to investigate changes made by different processes and materials, or I can meticulously record each step of a works’ creation. Within my own “restless planet” I am artist, creator and research scientist!

The study of Geology and fossils led Darwin to a growing awareness of the implications surrounding the “piles of unbiblical bones“ and left a huge impression on his “alluvial mind” - “During his long voyage in the Beagle, tiny sands of evidence had gradually accumulated some very alarming strata of thought on the very bottom of Darwin’s brain” - William Irvine


Section Two
EVOLUTION OF IDEAS



“Changes begin by pure chance, and then, if they prove to be beneficial, they are perpetuated.” Charles Darwin

There was no “eureka” moment for Darwin – I find it poetically pleasing that his theory evolved. An idea develops so slowly that it hardly seems to have been there at all, until it seems to have always been there. Although evolution cannot necessarily be seen in progress, the after effects can be recorded, studied and catalogued. In 1837 Darwin first sketched his heretical “branching tree”: one thread in the evolved fabric of life which would change the way we view the world and our place in it forever.

My work attempts to illustrate the nature of being, whilst exploring and recording the changes which occur during its creation. I believe that as an artist I have two roles: the hand which creates the image, acting as a “second nature”, and the eye which combines awareness with artistic vision in identifying beneficial changes, and encouraging their evolution.

I copy and repeat images over time using a variety of materials and techniques. Ideas evolve as those images are either perpetuated, mutated or extinguished in a self-indulgent process of artistic “natural selection”. Natura non facit saltum.

Darwin sketched an irregularly branching tree to illustrate his idea about the relationships among groups of organisms, with the trunk symbolising their common ancestry. “The great tree of life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramifications”.

Section Three
RESEARCH AND WRITING



Darwin returned from his voyage on the Beagle with thousands of “pinned, pickled, shot and stuffed“ samples from the entangled bank. He went on to devote some 20 years of his life to researching and analysing the evidence which supported his theory of evolution. Although greatly troubled by the heretical questions his work raised, he methodically catalogued and studied the river of information and correspondence which flooded into Down House from all over the world. He studied everything – from barnacles to breeding pigeons - in an attempt to turn a chaos of facts into a sound, intelligible scientific truth.

The obsessive, almost compulsive, quality of the work of a research scientist appeals to my own nature. Many of my pieces contain precious yet seemly insignificant scraps which have been carefully set aside and cherished from previous pieces of work. There is something very satisfying to me in the structures formed by repetition but it is important to remain aware of the thread of intent which runs through the work, forging a pathway through the piles of ephemera which often clutter the surface. I am conscious of the inevitability that over time some of the excitement of new ideas is dimmed, and yet constantly surprised by the vigour and vitality which remains at the core when the first flush of enthusiasm has passed.

During his long life, Darwin wrote in the region of 7000 letters, had over 20 books published and his writing and sketches now fill over 77,000 pages of searchable text and 188,000 electronic images on a dedicated website: www.darwin-online.org.uk



SUMMARY



Darwin did not stop working after the publication of The Origin of Species. “There were many topics that he had looked into during his work on the “Origin” and promised himself that he would return to in more detail. “ Charles Darwin at Down House

This essay is intended as an example of how Darwin’s theory continues to have influence in many diverse fields. I hope I have been able to illustrate how my artwork and ideas have evolved, and ask that each piece of work be seen as a “fossilised record” of a thought.

Whilst creating and cataloguing the work for the "Voyage of Discovery" exhibition, inevitably my ideas, images and methods of working have continued to evolve. I have been setting aside many precious scraps to “return to in more detail“, and my enthusiasm to do so is burgeoning.