The Ruskin Collection: Storm-Cloud – The Look of the Sky

In 1884, John Ruskin delivered one of the first lectures to discuss climate change and make a link to industrial pollution. Storm-Cloud brings together work from the Guild of St George’s Ruskin Collection curated by young people, video work by Jake Goodall and research by the University of Sheffield to explore the legacy of Ruskin’s groundbreaking observations.

Ruskin delivered his pioneering lecture, The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century, after closely observing the sky over many years and concluding that the weather was changing. He argued that a ‘plague wind’ was making the weather weak and unpredictable and that the filth and smoke from industry was part of the cause. Storm-Cloud: The Look of the Sky takes this lecture as a starting point to present artistic and scientific observations of our sky and climate.

The new display will feature artworks from the Guild of St George’s Ruskin Collection curated by The National Saturday Club, a group of 13-16-year-olds who meet weekly at Millennium Gallery to enjoy creative activities. A new video work by Jake Goodall will be updated regularly throughout the exhibition and will go on display alongside research from the University of Sheffield, highlighting their work towards reversing climate damage by attempting to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

The display also forms part of an ongoing project, Storm-Cloud, by Sheffield Hallam University’s Dr Tom Payne, who performs Ruskin’s lecture and invites artists to respond to the text by creating their own interpretations. The project creates a growing collection of new art works or ‘notes and additions’, each responding directly to Ruskin and climate change.

Find out more about the Guild of St George and their work here 

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