You:Matter

I made use of a drizzly, cold day by calling into the Science and Media Museum in Bradford, to catch the 'immersive art experience' called You:Matter, before it closes in March. It was actually most interesting and enjoyable.

'This digital interactive experience blends art, science and creative technologies to make the invisible visible. Explore the web of relationships that bond us to the universe—from the stars in the sky to every living cell, through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. It is a playful exploration of the invisible rhythms that underpin your life on Earth, offering a fresh perspective on the world you thought you knew.'

It started with the Big Bang: 'As a human being, you are part of a vast wave of energy that began with the explosion that created our universe.'

It explored the elements (about 20) that we are made from: 

It noted that even our breathing is part of an intricate web of existence. We inhale oxygen breathed out by plants and give back carbon dioxide to them. This was illustrated by a tree. When you breathed into a tube, lots of little blue lights swirled towards the tree. Rather lovely. 

There was a satellite data image showing the daily carbon flow around the world. Escaping carbon, from creatures like ourselves, burning fossil fuels, erupting volcanoes etc, is what plants use to grow, but in a very fragile balance. Carbon needs to be traded evenly.  

It talked about how we are mostly made of water, part of the cycle of water that falls to earth and makes streams and glaciers, the sea, water vapour, rain: solid to liquid to gas and back again. It explained how every meal we eat is powered by sunlight that is spun into glucose (sugar) by plants. We are solar energy, a web of life woven out of light.  

It described the Tree of Life, every living thing on earth descended from one common ancestor - illustrated by a colourful display of plants and creatures forming and then disintegrating into dust, before re-forming as something else. 

I found it very engaging, wonder-full. I wish science had been like that when I was at school. I wish we could bear it in mind in this world of deep divisions. We are all the same stuff!