I was sad last week to be told of the passing of James Lovelock, who died on the 26 July, his 103rd birthday. His was a monumental mind housed in an extraordinary person, and he continues to be a huge inspiration and influence on both myself and many of those I work and collaborate with. Jim recorded a Longplayer Conversation with John Gray back in 2011, which is linked to below. What follows is a short statement from the Longplayer Trust, of which I am a trustee:
As a scientist, James Lovelock’s far-reaching, cross-disciplinary work was often innovative and sometimes controversial. This included the Gaia theory of the Earth as a self-regulating system, which he proposed in the 1960s and developed with the US biologist Lynn Margulis. The Gaia theory also points towards Lovelock’s interest in the long-term sustainability and development of our planet, which included (sometimes critical) engagement with the green movement and the corporate sector.
Each year, as a way of celebrating the vision behind Longplayer’s long term aspirations, we invite leading cultural thinkers to conduct a public conversation inspired by the philosophical premise of Longplayer, a project which unfolds, in real time, over the course of a millennium. In 2011, the Artangel Longplayer Conversation was between James Lovelock and John Gray, which can be viewed below.
The Guardian’s obituary of James Lovelock can be read here.
You can view the complete set of Conversations here.
For more about Longplayer, see longplayer.org