The Thinking path was a name Darwin’s family gave to the daily walk he took around his home in Kent, where the scientist would ponder and develop his ideas and theories. On show at the exhibition is video footage of the route of the Thinking Path filmed on four particular dates. They are dates significant to Darwin," explained artist Shirley Chubb, "the anniversary of his birth, the day HMS Beagle returned to this country, the publication date of the Origin of the Species and the anniversary of his death." As well as the video there are still images of the route and museum objects from places that meant something to the famous naturalist. Shirley selected four core pieces, a fragment of log-boat, a 220 million year-old fossil, an African pregnancy garment and a series of 20 pieces of quartz. The pregnancy garment and quartz are from Plymouth City Museum’s collection. The log-boat fragment and fossil are on loan from Shrewsbury Museum. Each object is accompanied by an information panel and is paired with one of the four dates.

Photo: Portrait of Charles Darwin. Pastel drawing by Samuel Lawrence. Post conservation June 1997. Photographer Rodney Harrigan.

"There is almost an equation to the work," says Shirley. "I use the objects in much more of a metaphorical way than I would usually do." The log-boat fragment, linked to the return date of the Beagle, signifies the ancient human desire to explore and the vulnerability of that desire. The quartz, which starts off very black and becomes clearer as the series progresses, is used to represent the idea of a dense, dark theory that slowly becomes clearer as it is understood. Shirley linked this exhibit to the publication date of Darwin’s Origin of the Species.