The universe is inviting you to join
Help me bring Wonder to Bethlehem.
I have been making strange and beautiful things for most of my life.
One of them is called Wonder.
It is a kinetic sculpture in continuous motion: a form that appears to flow endlessly through itself, always changing and yet somehow remaining the same.
I have made Wonders large and small. They have travelled to extraordinary places and stopped people in their tracks.
Now Wonder has received an invitation I cannot ignore. Bethlehem would like one. And I would like to take it there.
The invitation
I have been talking with Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, founder and director of the newly built Museum of Natural History in Bethlehem, about finding a home for Wonder there.
The idea is wonderfully simple: make a new Wonder here in Britain, pack it carefully, travel with it to Bethlehem, install it in its new home — and leave it there for people to experience.
Not as a political statement.
Not because I believe a sculpture can solve the problems of the world.
But because I believe there is value in making and sharing something whose only purpose is to invite wonder, stillness and human connection.
Sometimes a small gesture is enough. They have invited Wonder.What is Wonder?
Wonder is difficult to describe because the strange thing about it only really becomes apparent when you see it move.
The sculpture turns continuously, yet appears somehow still.
Its two intertwined helical forms pass endlessly through one another, creating a movement that seems impossible at first — something simultaneously changing and unchanged.
“Possibly the best ever expression of Heraclitus’s insight that by changing it remains the same.”
But you don't need to understand any of that to experience it.
You just have to look.
Experience Wonder →
Why Bethlehem?
Bethlehem is one of the most recognised places on Earth.
For thousands of years people have travelled there carrying different beliefs, different histories and different hopes.
Wonder carries none.
It asks no one what they believe.
It simply moves.
My hope is that, in its own tiny way, it can become a place to pause — a few minutes in which a child, a visitor, a family or a stranger can stand beside somebody they may know nothing about and experience the same extraordinary movement.
Wonder takes no side.And perhaps that is reason enough to take it there.
Experience Wonder →The quest
This is not a campaign to develop an idea.
Wonder already exists. I know how to make it.
The quest is to make another one and get it all the way to Bethlehem.
I want to document the journey too — the people who make it possible, the making of the sculpture, the road there, its arrival and, finally, the moment Wonder begins to turn in Bethlehem.
If this campaign succeeds, that is exactly what we will do.
Together, we will sendThe plan
The sculpture will be made in Britain specifically for its new home in Bethlehem.
The process begins with the manufacture and finishing of Wonder itself. Its movement and display will then be engineered, assembled and thoroughly tested before the sculpture is packed into a purpose-built protective crate for its journey.
Then comes the adventure.
When circumstances allow, I intend to travel with Wonder to Bethlehem.
There, working with Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh and his team, we will unpack it, install it and set it turning.
And then we leave Wonder behind.
A simple idea.Making it happen
There are real costs involved in making Wonder and getting it safely to Bethlehem. Rather than hide those inside a single fundraising number, I want to show exactly what we are trying to make possible.
I think of the project through five elements — with the artist's time and work shown openly too.
The physical Wonder. Materials. Sculpture manufacture. Plinth. Turntable. Fabrication. Finishing. Packing and protection.
Getting there. Freight. Insurance. Customs. Travel and the practical logistics of moving a kinetic sculpture from Britain to Bethlehem.
The human energy. Specialist makers. Engineering. Assembly. Testing. Installation. Project coordination.
Making an extraordinary film. An experienced documentary cinematographer for the key stages of the journey, travel and production costs, followed by a week of high-level editing, colour, sound and final post-production. The aim is not simply to record the journey, but to make a fifteen-minute film worthy of the people, places and act it documents.
The unknown. Contingency. Crowdfunding and payment fees. Changing transport costs. And breathing room for the inevitable unknowns involved in a journey like this.
The artist's fee for creating and undertaking The Bethlehem Quest. Developing the project, bringing together its partners, preparing and accompanying Wonder on its journey to Bethlehem, overseeing its permanent installation, and shaping the finished film.
The Quest is itself part of the work.
Our goal
We don't expect crowdfunding to carry this quest alone.
We are approaching individuals, organisations and businesses who may wish to become sponsors of The Bethlehem Quest — contributing materials, expertise, transport, services or funding.
At the same time, we are taking the quest to Kickstarter because there is something wonderfully appropriate about Wonder reaching Bethlehem through the collective support of people who simply want to help it get there.
A few major sponsors can make an enormous difference.If you are an individual, back the quest.
If you represent an organisation that could help us make it, move it or fund it, become a sponsor.
And if neither is possible, share the story.
Every one of those things moves Wonder a little closer to Bethlehem.
Get Wonder there.The people making it possible
The Bethlehem Quest begins with an invitation, but it will take a community of people to answer it.
From Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh and his team in Bethlehem to the makers, engineers, supporters and sponsors who help Wonder on its way, I want this page to recognise the people who turn the idea into reality.
Every person who joins the quest becomes part of its story.
Why I'm doing this
My name is Tom Lawton. I am an inventor, artist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. I have spent much of my life making things and following ideas without always knowing where they might lead.
The last few years have taken me through some extraordinary highs and some very difficult lows. I have experienced success and failure, loss and rebuilding. I wrote about that journey in a book called An Inventor’s Tale.
But this quest isn't about looking backwards.
It is about what we choose to do next.
I believe in the creative spirit — the strange human impulse to imagine something that does not yet exist and then begin bringing it into the world.
That spirit has carried me throughout my life. It has carried Wonder too.
So when an invitation arrives from Bethlehem asking me to bring something I have created — something whose purpose is simply to inspire wonder, stillness and human connection — I feel compelled to try.
I don't know whether taking a sculpture to Bethlehem will change anything.
But I believe that when we feel powerless, a creative act can be an act of hope.
And perhaps that is where change begins.
This is the next part of mine.
Come with me.
Join the Bethlehem Quest →
