Walk The Solar System (2010)

Despite many a primary school drawing or text book illustration, a true scale model of our Solar System is unfeasible on paper.To get a sense of its true vastness, I invited people to walk the Solar System.

A walkable scale model was installed, which began at Kingsland Road in Dalston and finished in Stamford Hill, London; running along part of one of Britain’s most historic and longest Roman roads.

Local shopkeepers at appropriate points on the route acted as guardians to the planets – hosting models represented by everyday objects, at their correct sizes on this 3.1 km scale. Those following the map, or simply passing by, were invited to pay a visit to the planetary guardians and request to be shown the planet.

Guardians and their planets are documented and celebrated in these specially commissioned portraits by photographer Mark Henderson.The project has finished for now, hopefully to resurface one day in a new location, however, if you would like to follow the route, the map is available here.

Here is an interview I gave to We Make Money Not Art about the project.