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A N T A R C T I C A
Summer seasons | 2005 & 2008
This Fragile Earth | Archival Inks, pastel on carved Hahnemuhle paper | 2006
INTERVIEWS, JOURNAL ARTICLES & NOTEBOOK JOTTINGS
"When I’m on home turf, wind more often than not rattles and rumples me; I want to batten down the hatches and stay indoors. And yet, here, the much greater force, noise and visual drama of a katabatic wind is an invitation for me to step outside. Standing in its forcefield, I find myself with an entirely different awareness of my body in space and possibly even in time. And if visibility’s not what it’s ‘meant’ to be and the usual familiar points of reference are no longer within grasp, an almost weightless feeling ensues. We’re like feathers or flotsam in this place. This becomes even more apparent when we see and experience the wind ‘at work,’ displaying all the intention, zeal and passion of a sculptor mid-process." CB, 2008
A VAST SCALE - EVOCATIONS OF ANTARCTICA
Collaborative research paper | RUPERT SUMMERSON (Australia) & CLAIRE BEYNON (New Zealand) 2011
Available in hard copy and pdf format from ANU PRESS, Canberra 2015 [Pages 205 - 221]
Collaborative research paper | RUPERT SUMMERSON (Australia) & CLAIRE BEYNON (New Zealand) 2011
Available in hard copy and pdf format from ANU PRESS, Canberra 2015 [Pages 205 - 221]
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NATURE'S LITTLE MASONS | JUNCTURES: The Journal for Thematic Dialogue [Issue 13 | Unseen] | Dec. 2010
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SNAP FROZEN | Journal entries from Explorers Cove, Antarctica | October - December 2008
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ARTIST-POET'S ANTARCTIC CONTRIBUTION REWARDED | Otago Daily Times
Antarctica Service Medals are presented in recognition of "valuable contributions to exploration and scientific achievement" under the United States Antarctic Programme.
Antarctica Service Medals are presented in recognition of "valuable contributions to exploration and scientific achievement" under the United States Antarctic Programme.
SPOTLIGHT
Artist Claire Beynon talks about her travels with polar scientists to investigate the marine life of the Antarctic | by ELSIE PERCIVAL
Artist Claire Beynon talks about her travels with polar scientists to investigate the marine life of the Antarctic | by ELSIE PERCIVAL
HIDDEN DEPTHS | Poetry for Science
Embark on a lyrical under-ice voyage in the company of a science diver, a pteropod, a flotilla of silver and white bamboo boats and an ancient giant of the uni-cellular world - tree foraminiferan, Notodendrodes Antarctikos. Painterly and metaphorical in its approach, this short film addresses a number of scientific and metaphysical themes in a novel and thought-provoking way.
Hidden Depths - Poetry for Science was first shown at the INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR OSLO SCIENCE CONFERENCE
8-12 June 2010 | Oslo, Norway
Embark on a lyrical under-ice voyage in the company of a science diver, a pteropod, a flotilla of silver and white bamboo boats and an ancient giant of the uni-cellular world - tree foraminiferan, Notodendrodes Antarctikos. Painterly and metaphorical in its approach, this short film addresses a number of scientific and metaphysical themes in a novel and thought-provoking way.
Hidden Depths - Poetry for Science was first shown at the INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR OSLO SCIENCE CONFERENCE
8-12 June 2010 | Oslo, Norway
WHERE THERE IS ICE, THERE IS MUSIC
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GLOBAL SNAPSHOT | S 77° 34.577’ E 163° 31.687’ Explorers Cove, Antarctica, 1.00AM
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not EMPTY not SILENT not WHITE
SOUND ICE LIGHT
Collaboration with ceramic artists Katherine Glenday & Christina Bryer (SA)
DRIFT
Boats, boats & more boats
GROMIADNA
ArtScience collaboration with geologist/musician Rupert Summerson (Australia)
One of several online projects I've been occupied with lately is a collaborative (ad)venture titled A VAST SCALE - Evocations of Antarctica. AVS is a Ning community site created and managed with my Canberra-based friend and fellow Antarctican, Rupert Summerson.
Between us, Rupert and I created a series of short ice-related videos for the Ning site with the purpose of engendering discussion re; the Antarctic environment, sound/music and aesthetics; this is an informal research project whose focus is more on creative process, networking and subjective opinion than it is on hard-nosed statistics and conclusive findings. We presented a joint paper at the Antarctica Sound conference in Canberra in July 2011. Thanks to the internet we were were able to construct, compose and co-ordinate this collaboration entirely over distance.
During my years of ArtScience collaboration with polar biologist Sam Bowser I developed an abiding fascination for the DNA and RNA sequences of the protists we were studying and found myself looking for ways to incorporate them in various art forms, and in various ways. . . As odd as this may sound, DNA and RNA sequences look to me like poetry; when I read them, I hear music. . . It seemed a good idea, then, to transcribe their sequences into quasi-musical notation - why not 'play' the protist's DNA?
So. . . Meet Gromia cf. oviformis, a microscopic hot-water-bottle-shaped single-celled critter abundant in Antarctic waters and the first of the protists I have paid musical - and other - attention to. . .
(watercolor by Sam Bowser)
Between us, Rupert and I created a series of short ice-related videos for the Ning site with the purpose of engendering discussion re; the Antarctic environment, sound/music and aesthetics; this is an informal research project whose focus is more on creative process, networking and subjective opinion than it is on hard-nosed statistics and conclusive findings. We presented a joint paper at the Antarctica Sound conference in Canberra in July 2011. Thanks to the internet we were were able to construct, compose and co-ordinate this collaboration entirely over distance.
During my years of ArtScience collaboration with polar biologist Sam Bowser I developed an abiding fascination for the DNA and RNA sequences of the protists we were studying and found myself looking for ways to incorporate them in various art forms, and in various ways. . . As odd as this may sound, DNA and RNA sequences look to me like poetry; when I read them, I hear music. . . It seemed a good idea, then, to transcribe their sequences into quasi-musical notation - why not 'play' the protist's DNA?
So. . . Meet Gromia cf. oviformis, a microscopic hot-water-bottle-shaped single-celled critter abundant in Antarctic waters and the first of the protists I have paid musical - and other - attention to. . .
(watercolor by Sam Bowser)
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Gromia, for whom home = the ocean floor closest to McMurdo Station, are lean and hungry-looking, while - for some yet-to-be-discovered reason - their relatives in Explorers Cove are spherical and fat. Same creatures, same species, same DNA/RNA sequences yet their expression in the world of form is markedly different. This is curious and raises interesting questions for scientists and artists alike. Below is an image of the RNA sequence for Gromia cf. oviformis - |
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There is a connection between my AVS project with Rupert and my collaborations with Sam Bowser! A musical performance was arranged as an adjunct event to the Antarctica conference in Canberra. Rupert and I thought it would this would be a fine opportunity to create a collaborative composition, and agreed to use the RNA sequence of Gromia cf. oviformis as our prompt. He created a 'sequence code' out of the various 4-letter configurations then transcribed these into Japanese musical notation** for performance on his shakuhachi - a traditional Japanese wind instrument. The result is an unusual, primitive and haunting piece of music. The score is visually very beautiful, too. I especially love the way its linear composition emulates the 'rain' made by volcanic sediment as it travels across the sea ice from the Dry Valleys then filters down to the ocean floor where Gromia have their home. |
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Rupert performed GromiaDNA on his shakuhachi in Canberra, using the medium of sound to make a creature ordinarily invisible to the naked eye, visible. . . My contribution to the event was to create an atmospheric backdrop/stage; a 9min silent film of the eerie, icy waters inhabited by Gromia. |
A 9 minute silent film requires patience! Nevertheless, I invite you to enter these waters; drift a while; cup a small boat; marvel at ice shards, capture a bubble; dance with a sea star or hitch a ride on one of Christina Bryer's exquisite waterborne porcelain forms - an unexpected, slow-motion 'flying carpet'.
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When Gromia's sequence arrived in my e- Inbox six years ago, it was accompanied by a challenge, 'I don't suppose you can make a poem out of this?' Well, yes, one can make a poem out of anything!
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Here is GromiaDNA, as concrete poem*.
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And in the next few images, Gromia gametes (SEM images by Sam) encounter the poetry of their own make-up, survey their DNA. . .
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Gromia's DNA sequence also made an impression on this pair of small white chairs. |
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** RUPERT SUMMERSON writes about his process of transcribing Gromia DNA into Japanese Chikuho notation ---
"Several years ago at a conference on Antarctica in Christchurch, New Zealand, I was fortunate to meet an artist and poet by the name of Claire Beynon who had been to Antarctica several times. She very kindly gave me a copy of her book of poetry and images called Open Book. On page … actually the book doesn’t have page numbers, so between ‘Quandary’ and ‘Button Shop – Via Cappeleria, Rome’ is a rather strange image of what looks a bit like a hot water bottle filled with letters. It wasn’t until the next Antarctic conference in Hobart a couple of years later that I discovered that this strange image was the DNA of an Antarctic foraminifera named Gromia assembled in the shape of the organism itself but magnified about 10,000 times. (Fig. 1) Alice Giles, the well-known harpist, was at that conference and she told me about how Carlos Salzedo used to transcribe people’s names into musical notation and she lent me a book which showed how he did it.
I play the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute and I am used to playing Japanese notation. I can read Western music but I prefer to play Japanese notation. There are several schools of shakuhachi playing of which Kinko is the biggest, but my teacher, Dr Riley Lee, is from the Chikuho school so that is what I am most familiar with. The name shakuhachi is actually very prosaic, it simply says that it is ichi shaku (about 30 cm) and hachi (eight) suns (about 24 cm) long, which equates to about 54 cm. There is nothing implicit in the name that says that it is a musical instrument. Shakuhachis comes in many lengths but if there is a standard it is an [ichi] shaku hachi [sun], often written as 1.8. The shakuhachi is a chromatic instrument, so it can play all the tones and semitones in the western scale. The fundamental note, i.e. the lowest note on the instrument is D above middle C though the player can reach middle C with a special technique. But D is naturally and comfortably the lowest note with all five of the finger holes closed.
DNA comprises four bases: cytosine, adenine, guanine and thymine which are commonly abbreviated to CAGT. The first three, as many musicians have no doubt noted, are notes on the Western musical scale, but what to do with the T? To transcribe DNA into music that I could play on the shakuhachi I devised the following. Imagine a piano keyboard. Taking middle C as the starting point, I gave that the letter A, then proceeding chromatically up the scale as it were, B = C#, C = D, D = E, E = F, F = F# and G = G. Following this procedure until T is reached gives G#. Thus the notes allocated to the letters of DNA and their equivalents in Chikuho shakuhachi notation are as follows:
The full DNA sequence transcribed into Chikuho notation is played from right to left, top to bottom. There is no bar structure in honkyoku, traditional Japanese shakuhachi music, which is notated in lines as I have done here (Fig. 2). For tempo, I have given each letter throughout the value of a crotchet and given each letter one beat. Some letters are repeated in a sequence, for example, the sequence of the first line of DNA (right hand column) is TTT, which I have scored as Ru, and counting as three beats. Finally, I have scored Ru as always being in the upper register (kan). This anchors the other notes which can be either in the upper or lower (otsu) register as is traditional in shakuhachi playing.
The result is a rather mysterious sounding piece which I think befits a deep sea Antarctica organism that we know very little about."
Rupert Summerson | Claire Beynon
* concrete poetry: poetry in which the meaning or effect is conveyed partly or wholly by visual means, using patterns of words or letters and other typographical devices.
The result is a rather mysterious sounding piece which I think befits a deep sea Antarctica organism that we know very little about."
Rupert Summerson | Claire Beynon
* concrete poetry: poetry in which the meaning or effect is conveyed partly or wholly by visual means, using patterns of words or letters and other typographical devices.
INTERFACE
ArtScience collaboration with polar biologist Dr. Sam Bowser
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INTERFACE is a collaboratively conceived exhibition and accompanying multi-media presentation exploring the relationships between art and science, intuition and knowledge, fact and the imagination.
In line with International Polar Year objectives, one of the emphases of INTERFACE is on inter-disciplinary, intercontinental exchange, with a goal of increasing the public's understanding of the importance of Antarctica in the global system. References to major international research projects such as ANDRILL, as well as environmental issues such as the greenhouse effect and global climate change are implicit in this work.
‘Interface’ is a fusion of ‘inter’ meaning ‘between’ and ‘facio,’ ‘to make’ or ‘to do.’ In everyday language, it means ‘to bring into relationship.’ The word ICE is embedded within the word ‘interface’ making this a pertinent title since it references Antarctica and at the same time focuses in on the parallels between image-making and scientific processes. In both cases, understanding is often not immediate - patience and focus are required to bring content into view. In this – and in many other respects - science and art are kindred disciplines, each being a layered exploration of information and meaning.
Background on Scientific Research:
The Bowser laboratory studies a group of one-celled creatures called Foraminifera* (see Glossary), or “forams” for short, in an attempt to understand the functioning of both modern and ancient marine ecosystems. Forams are used in these studies because they produce vast fossil deposits that help paleontologists interpret past ocean and atmospheric conditions. This information is key to understanding contemporary issues such as global climate change and its impact on the environment, human health and commerce.
It is known that the life habits of forams are strongly influenced by characteristics of the sediment in which they live. Sediment grain size is thought to be the principal factor governing the biology of foram species, but other parameters – particularly the surface properties of sediment grains – are undoubtedly important. Indeed, it is the microtopology of the grains that the organisms interact with directly, so on first principles one might expect microtopology to be a primary factor. To our knowledge, however, no investigators have examined the influence of sediment grain surface microtopologies on foram biology. This lack of knowledge is primarily due to the absence of experimental approaches to tackle the problem.
Because of recent technological advances in fabricating surface topologies on silicon and glass surfaces, driven primarily by the electronics industry, we now have the tools available to address this question. For example, it is now possible to produce fields of micro- to nano-scale pegs (shown at the right) or grooves on silicon; we can then incubate forams on these surfaces to study their physiological responses.
Unfortunately, the choices of topologies that can be engineered are overwhelming, even in simple examples employing pegs or grooves. Variables can include peg height & spacing distance, groove depth, spacing between grooves, etc. In addition, the patterns generated are extremely regular, and typically offer only a single step height (essentially parallel to the planar substrate) with no angularity. Although meaningful insights could be obtained using this approach, it would be prohibitive in manufacturing cost and person-hours to explore all the possibilities. Indeed, where do we begin?
Art informing science:
In our novel Art/Science collaboration, Claire Beynon’s artwork – specifically, her Katabatikos series that were inspired by her two month stay in Sam Bowser’s Antarctic field camp – is used as a template to produce a feature-rich growth substrate for the forams.** Indeed, this micro-fabricated rendering of her Antarctic imagery produces a myriad of random topologies. Sam and Claire incubate forams on these surfaces and study their motile behavior using time-lapse video light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This information is then used by Sam to generate hypotheses regarding specific topologies (e.g., peg or ridge spacing) for more formal experimental tests.
** Visit http://www.bowserlab.org for more information about forams and the Bowser lab’s research initiatives.
Science informing art:
In preliminary studies described in the InterfaCE Project Description (below), we show that forams adopt interesting behaviors in response to these art-inspired topologies. Our novel process of art informing science in turn provides inspiration that leads to new art by Claire. Together, the scientific images (which themselves have intrinsic aesthetic value) and their artistic interpretations, form the basis for an intriguing art exhibition. Claire also employs the “tools” used to produce the nano-textured growth substrates as prompts using other media, such as lithographs, solar plate etching and sand-blasted glass installation pieces.
In a sense, we’re cycling information through artistic, scientific, and microbial processes in a way that is analogous to how energy and resources flow through the Antarctic ecosystem. We believe that this iterative cycling of art, science, and nature represents a new creative paradigm − what scientists call a “transformative approach” − that will be widely applicable to other life science disciplines.
Figure Legend:
One principle aim of this collaboration is to effectively communicate scientific principles, particularly the “concept of scale (nano-to-macro and vice versa),” to general public audiences. In addition to our visual ArtScience explorations, we present public lectures describing our unique Art/Science process, and ‘take Antarctica’ to K-12 classrooms in our respective home communities (New York State Capital Region and Dunedin, NZ). Our research findings, Antarctic experiences, and images obtained from the collaboration provide a rich new source of materials for these educational outlets.
Educational facilitation also occurs with students at Skidmore College, a liberal arts institution located in Saratoga, NY. The Director of the Skidmore College Tang Art Museum agreed to cooperate with us in presenting the InterfaCE installation at their facility, and have supported the development of a cross-disciplinary microscopy/art class under the direction of Dr. David Domozych in Skidmore’s Biology Department.
Further discussion on INTERFACE
For the purposes of the Tang Museum presentation, Claire has created a sequence of new images, using her earlier Antarctica drawings and Sam’s SEM photographs as prompts. Circular in format, these drawings are ‘static echoes’ of the images used in Sam’s microscopy and microlithography processes. They also bring to mind the lens of the camera and microscope, the iris of the eye ((i.e. ways of seeing), music notes, the globe, etc… In its completed form as an artscience installation, INTERFACE is effectively a large mandala, a series of ever-widening concentric circles. The circle is, of course, a powerful and timeless universal symbol; it represents integration and wholeness. Our circular drawings and SEM images also suggest connections to the Antarctic ice and sediment cores currently being processed in a bid to find answers to concerns about climate change.
As a museum piece, INTERFACE may seem to focus in primarily on aesthetic form and creative expression, but this work also has important scientific and educational outcomes. For example, biomedical researchers have recently demonstrated that nanoscale surface topography influences the growth and behavior of human cells, and that these interactions have profound medical implications (e.g., prosthetics, implants).
As far as we know, this work is the first to explore ways in which Antarctic microorganisms are influenced by topographic features similar in scale to that of their native environments; by analogy we anticipate that the ecological implications will prove to be comparably profound. The use of artistic imagery will provide a powerful link between human and microbial experiences, and thus educate the public in new and exciting ways.
Following the lead exhibition, or concomitantly with it, Skidmore art and science students Megan Garfinkel, Simon Gunner, Paul Hisaya Ishii, Amanda King and Charles Nicholson will present their unique works, highlighting collaborative and interpretive principles of these oft-considered disparate disciplines.
The United States and New Zealand have long been respectful partners when it comes to Antarctic research. In line with IPY objectives, INTERFACE will offer visitors to the gallery a dynamic, multi-layered experience.
Sam and Claire gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programsfor awarding them a grant to develop this project.
In line with International Polar Year objectives, one of the emphases of INTERFACE is on inter-disciplinary, intercontinental exchange, with a goal of increasing the public's understanding of the importance of Antarctica in the global system. References to major international research projects such as ANDRILL, as well as environmental issues such as the greenhouse effect and global climate change are implicit in this work.
‘Interface’ is a fusion of ‘inter’ meaning ‘between’ and ‘facio,’ ‘to make’ or ‘to do.’ In everyday language, it means ‘to bring into relationship.’ The word ICE is embedded within the word ‘interface’ making this a pertinent title since it references Antarctica and at the same time focuses in on the parallels between image-making and scientific processes. In both cases, understanding is often not immediate - patience and focus are required to bring content into view. In this – and in many other respects - science and art are kindred disciplines, each being a layered exploration of information and meaning.
Background on Scientific Research:
The Bowser laboratory studies a group of one-celled creatures called Foraminifera* (see Glossary), or “forams” for short, in an attempt to understand the functioning of both modern and ancient marine ecosystems. Forams are used in these studies because they produce vast fossil deposits that help paleontologists interpret past ocean and atmospheric conditions. This information is key to understanding contemporary issues such as global climate change and its impact on the environment, human health and commerce.
It is known that the life habits of forams are strongly influenced by characteristics of the sediment in which they live. Sediment grain size is thought to be the principal factor governing the biology of foram species, but other parameters – particularly the surface properties of sediment grains – are undoubtedly important. Indeed, it is the microtopology of the grains that the organisms interact with directly, so on first principles one might expect microtopology to be a primary factor. To our knowledge, however, no investigators have examined the influence of sediment grain surface microtopologies on foram biology. This lack of knowledge is primarily due to the absence of experimental approaches to tackle the problem.
Because of recent technological advances in fabricating surface topologies on silicon and glass surfaces, driven primarily by the electronics industry, we now have the tools available to address this question. For example, it is now possible to produce fields of micro- to nano-scale pegs (shown at the right) or grooves on silicon; we can then incubate forams on these surfaces to study their physiological responses.
Unfortunately, the choices of topologies that can be engineered are overwhelming, even in simple examples employing pegs or grooves. Variables can include peg height & spacing distance, groove depth, spacing between grooves, etc. In addition, the patterns generated are extremely regular, and typically offer only a single step height (essentially parallel to the planar substrate) with no angularity. Although meaningful insights could be obtained using this approach, it would be prohibitive in manufacturing cost and person-hours to explore all the possibilities. Indeed, where do we begin?
Art informing science:
In our novel Art/Science collaboration, Claire Beynon’s artwork – specifically, her Katabatikos series that were inspired by her two month stay in Sam Bowser’s Antarctic field camp – is used as a template to produce a feature-rich growth substrate for the forams.** Indeed, this micro-fabricated rendering of her Antarctic imagery produces a myriad of random topologies. Sam and Claire incubate forams on these surfaces and study their motile behavior using time-lapse video light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This information is then used by Sam to generate hypotheses regarding specific topologies (e.g., peg or ridge spacing) for more formal experimental tests.
** Visit http://www.bowserlab.org for more information about forams and the Bowser lab’s research initiatives.
Science informing art:
In preliminary studies described in the InterfaCE Project Description (below), we show that forams adopt interesting behaviors in response to these art-inspired topologies. Our novel process of art informing science in turn provides inspiration that leads to new art by Claire. Together, the scientific images (which themselves have intrinsic aesthetic value) and their artistic interpretations, form the basis for an intriguing art exhibition. Claire also employs the “tools” used to produce the nano-textured growth substrates as prompts using other media, such as lithographs, solar plate etching and sand-blasted glass installation pieces.
In a sense, we’re cycling information through artistic, scientific, and microbial processes in a way that is analogous to how energy and resources flow through the Antarctic ecosystem. We believe that this iterative cycling of art, science, and nature represents a new creative paradigm − what scientists call a “transformative approach” − that will be widely applicable to other life science disciplines.
Figure Legend:
- (A) Photograph of Katabatikos iii. Charcoal & pastel on paper (2006).
- (B) Lithographic mask of Katabatikos series used for generating patterned growth substrates.
- (C) Macro photograph of Astrammina rara incubated on quartz disc. The disk was spin-coated with SU-8 photoresist, overlain with the Katabatikos mask, and irradiated with ultraviolet light to create a 3-dimensional rendering.
- (D) Scanning electron micrograph of the specimen shown above. Astrammina pseudopodia have extended atop a “ridge” of SU-8 and within the valley below, but not along the curved intervening space.
- (E) Pen and ink reinterpretation of scanning electron micrograph shown in D. Claire was struck by the similarities between the scanning micrograph and aerial views of the Explorers Cove shoreline.
One principle aim of this collaboration is to effectively communicate scientific principles, particularly the “concept of scale (nano-to-macro and vice versa),” to general public audiences. In addition to our visual ArtScience explorations, we present public lectures describing our unique Art/Science process, and ‘take Antarctica’ to K-12 classrooms in our respective home communities (New York State Capital Region and Dunedin, NZ). Our research findings, Antarctic experiences, and images obtained from the collaboration provide a rich new source of materials for these educational outlets.
Educational facilitation also occurs with students at Skidmore College, a liberal arts institution located in Saratoga, NY. The Director of the Skidmore College Tang Art Museum agreed to cooperate with us in presenting the InterfaCE installation at their facility, and have supported the development of a cross-disciplinary microscopy/art class under the direction of Dr. David Domozych in Skidmore’s Biology Department.
Further discussion on INTERFACE
For the purposes of the Tang Museum presentation, Claire has created a sequence of new images, using her earlier Antarctica drawings and Sam’s SEM photographs as prompts. Circular in format, these drawings are ‘static echoes’ of the images used in Sam’s microscopy and microlithography processes. They also bring to mind the lens of the camera and microscope, the iris of the eye ((i.e. ways of seeing), music notes, the globe, etc… In its completed form as an artscience installation, INTERFACE is effectively a large mandala, a series of ever-widening concentric circles. The circle is, of course, a powerful and timeless universal symbol; it represents integration and wholeness. Our circular drawings and SEM images also suggest connections to the Antarctic ice and sediment cores currently being processed in a bid to find answers to concerns about climate change.
As a museum piece, INTERFACE may seem to focus in primarily on aesthetic form and creative expression, but this work also has important scientific and educational outcomes. For example, biomedical researchers have recently demonstrated that nanoscale surface topography influences the growth and behavior of human cells, and that these interactions have profound medical implications (e.g., prosthetics, implants).
As far as we know, this work is the first to explore ways in which Antarctic microorganisms are influenced by topographic features similar in scale to that of their native environments; by analogy we anticipate that the ecological implications will prove to be comparably profound. The use of artistic imagery will provide a powerful link between human and microbial experiences, and thus educate the public in new and exciting ways.
Following the lead exhibition, or concomitantly with it, Skidmore art and science students Megan Garfinkel, Simon Gunner, Paul Hisaya Ishii, Amanda King and Charles Nicholson will present their unique works, highlighting collaborative and interpretive principles of these oft-considered disparate disciplines.
The United States and New Zealand have long been respectful partners when it comes to Antarctic research. In line with IPY objectives, INTERFACE will offer visitors to the gallery a dynamic, multi-layered experience.
Sam and Claire gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programsfor awarding them a grant to develop this project.