GATESHEAD.- BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art presents a new work by renowned Argentinean artist and architect Tom醩 Saraceno. For 14 Billion (Working Title) Saraceno enlisted the aid of spider experts to create an oversized model of the web of the Latrodectus mactans (Black Widow) spider. This new work, previously unseen in the UK, opened at BALTIC on Saturday 17 July.

Through his work Saraceno explores possible visions of a better world; his interest in architectural projects is part of this ongoing fascination with utopian theories and astronomical constellations. Taking his inspiration from the natural environment he rethinks how we live and our relation to one another; reshaping ideas and perceptions on ownership, property and even nationality. He challenges our ideas about the stability of the built environment and the structure of urban environments. Occupying the border regions between science, art and architecture his works include anything from spheres and cloud creations to flying gardens, space elevators and futuristic dwellings.

In collaboration with arachnologists, astrophysicists, architects and engineers, Saraceno has spent two years developing 14 Billion (Working Title). His point of departure for this new work was science’s use of spiders’ webs when describing the origin and structure of the universe. The resulting installation spans an enormous 400 cubic metres, is composed of 8000 black strings connected by over 23,000 individually tied knots and depicts a monstrous Black Widow spider’s web. At BALTIC the work will be housed within a specially created white cube space located in the Level 2 gallery enabling visitors to walk through and around the installation.

14 Billion (Working Title) is a development of the work Galaxy Forming along Filaments, like Droplets along the Strands of a Spider’s Web which he presented at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. Thomas Saraceno is guest artist for 2010 at Bonnier Konsthall, Stockholm where 14 Billion (Working Title) was previously exhibited.