New QB mural and 'Robot Tours' coming to Hastings Contemporary
Sunday 5th April 2020
In preparation for his forthcoming exhibition at Hastings Contemporary, 'We Live in Worrying Times', Quentin has created a new 30 x 5 ft mural specially for the show. He refers to it as 'The Taxi Driver' and it is inspired by Picasso's 'Guernica' - as he explains in the exhibition trailer (above). Created on site in the gallery in February, the mural - alongside other new works from 2019-2020 - explores themes of dislocation and isolation. The exhibition is due to open in the next few days, date to be announced.
As the gallery is currently closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 lockdown, in a first for English art galleries, Hastings Contemporary has teamed up with the D4D project, Accentuate UK and Bristol Robotics Lab to offer its members and audiences the opportunity to continue to visit the gallery and experience the best of modern and contemporary arts via the Double, a videoconferencing robot that can guide an operator and up to five people at a time through real time tours of the gallery and all its current exhibitions, as well as taking in the gallery’s much-loved views over the historic Stade fishing beach and English Channel.
The telepresence robot, developed by Double Robotics, provides a revolutionary solution for arts organisations such as Hastings Contemporary in overcoming barriers of isolation. The gallery is delighted that through its adoption of this technology it will be able to continue to support families, children and older visitors alike, offering opportunities to enter the gallery space from the comfort of a sofa, bed or kitchen table.
Moreover, the robot tours will help to communicate more widely the lived experiences of those with disabilities in a creative and collaborative manner, and will contribute to scientific research
For more information about booking on a tour of the Robot Double, see Hastings Contemporary's website: https://www.hastingscontemporary.org/exhibition/robot-tours/