SciArt Magazine Volume 31
June 2018
Table of Contents

Cover image: "Breath by Breath" (2016-2017). 18"x36".
​Digital print on archival paper. Photo credit Rajesh Kumar Singh.
Letter from the Editor

Open call for contributions for special topics October 2018 issue:
What does science gain from interaction and engagement with the arts?

Science-art collaboration is a meaningful way in which the sciences and arts can interact, and is often cited as the path towards innovation in our 21st century. In collaboration, artists gain special and intimate access to science and its processes. This leads to new ideas and new works. But what do scientists gain from interacting and engaging with artists? While the artistic products of science-art collaborations are the stuff of public exhibitions, how art influences science mostly comes in the form of word-of-mouth stories. 

With interest in science-art collaboration on the rise, the need for funding follows. We exist in a funding landscape in which the sciences are still the largest supporters of science-art interactions, where art takes the form of science outreach and communication. But art can, and does, do more than that - what of science innovation? If scientists could write in artists on their grants as a means to increase the creative scientific capacity of their research and projects, cross-disciplinary work, and the potential it has to have deep and wide impact, could be more properly supported, and could go far beyond the "communication" and "outreach" levels. 

I'd like to turn these word-of-mouth stories into a collection of evidence that anyone - whether writing a grant or arguing for the science-art connection or otherwise - can point to as illustrating a definitive account of the positive impact art can have on science. So my question to the community is: How has engagement with the arts or an artist led to innovation, breakthroughs, and insights in your science? From distinct "aha moments" to the simple gaining of a fresh perspective, how has art influenced your science? 

We are seeking single or co-authored articles which show the specific and positive impact of art on science through case study examples for our special topics October issue. If you are interested in sharing your story, please visit our Contribute page for more details.

And as always, I hope you enjoy our June issue!

Sincerely, 
Julia Buntaine | Founder, Editor-in-Chief

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STRAIGHT TALK
Vibha Galhotra

I was trained as a printmaker but was interested in intervening within the landscape. Arte Provera was a big influence on my early practice where I was more involved in land art even though it was hard to find support of acceptance of the latter in the Indian art scenario. Consequently, I was mostly pursuing residencies to fill the gap. But slowly, on my move to Delhi, I started focusing on the issue of migration more and more...

ON SCREEN from Labocine 
Below 0°

Below 0° is an animated short film that follows the daily routine of Vladimir Kozlov, a meteorologist who has held a solitary research post in the Arctic for over 20 years. Though the film is a fictional account, the work offers viewers a realistic interpretation of the lone scientist’s life. As the narrator, Kozlov reflects on his time spent in the Arctic, and the film’s striking animated visuals illustrate these reflections...

QUICK VIEW
Rita McBride

Since the mid 1980’s Rita McBride’s work has explored the tension between architectural and sculpture forms, as she studied the ramifications of modernism’s legacy for society in everything from urban planning to the aesthetics of space. Her most recent project, Particulates, is currently on view at Dia:Chelsea and marks a radical departure from these subjects, as it is inspired by time travel, the principles of light, space, and quantum physics... 

STRAIGHT TALK
Joel Ong

Danielle McCloskey, SciArt Magazine: Explain a little bit about what you do and what your work entails.
 
Joel Ong, artist: Broadly speaking, my work attempts to define a new ‘nature’ that promotes rather than complicates fluidities between digital and analog environments. I am very inspired by the caprice and unpredictability in the everyday, especially prominent in such natural rhythms as the winds or the tides...

SPACES & PLACES
Catalyst Conversations in Boston, MA

Catalyst Conversations was launched by artist, curator and educator Deborah Davidson in 2012 to present provocative ideas that cut across art and science to an engaged public. As Catalyst Conversations has grown, we have held onto our core value of free and open access to ideas at the cutting edge of innovation in the arts and sciences...

SPOTLIGHT
Astronomical surrealism by Lynn Krizan

In 2000, I was given a small 72 mm reflector telescope, and that began a growing interest in astronomy.  I have had no formal astronomy education or training, having been primarily trained in the fine arts.  However, the arts education developed a keener sense of observation and a love for visual exploration.  To me, telescopes are ‘looking machines’...

IN THE LAB
with Genspace member Tahiya Hossain

SCOBY stands for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. I personally never knew what this small squishy living thing had the capability of until 2014, when I first discovered the grow-your-own-clothes idea during a late night Youtube browsing session and happened upon Suzanne Lee’s TED talk. I was fascinated by the thought of being able to create something that gives hope to the future of fashion...

COLLABORATION
INCUBATOR at the University of Windsor

Clean rooms, bare benches, and precision instruments are associated with scientific laboratories. These spaces bring to mind lab coats, gloves, constrictions, and procedures harnessed to produce experimental proof for new scientific ideas. Canadian artist Jennifer Willet created INCUBATOR in 2009 as a special bio-art laboratory designed to take such a space a step further...

QUICK VIEW
Elise Gellweiler's A Sting in the Tale

...As I discovered more and more about the interconnectedness of honey bees to our everyday lives, I also learned that their species was, and still is, under serious threat from several natural and man-made causes. These include pesticide use, long-distance travel for pollination, weakened immune systems and climate change, among other things...

ON VIEW | INTERVIEW
Lynn Hershman Leeson's "Anti-Bodies"

Switzerland's House of Electronic Arts (HeK) is currently showcasing the work of Lynn Hershman Leeson in her solo exhibition "Anti-Bodies." This show, which is the culmination of 10 years of work, surrounds themes of biotechnology and its ethical implications, regenerative medicine, DNA manipulation, and genetic engineering...

RESIDENCY
Stochastic Labs

Adversity drives strange and wonderful evolution. Consider the Venezuelan climbing catfish that uses pelvic fins to climb rocks to find new tributaries when water levels drop. Then there are brittle stars that use their long, prehensile tentacles to navigate coral reefs in search of food. And we can’t ignore the tardigrade—a tiny, otherworldly creature that is so tenacious it may be able to survive the vacuum of space. These creatures, amazing as they may be, are the result of unconscious, involuntary changes. Imagine, however, the product of intentional adaptation and creativity - a creature of cultural evolution...

FROM THE LIBRARY
LabStudio: Design Research between Architecture and Biology

The first time I saw Jenny E. Sabin’s work was at MoMA PS1 in the summer of 2017. Lured by a promotional image, I decided to keep myself largely in the dark about the installation, a habit I enact when I think I’m really going to like something (I did). Lumen, an interactive sculptural-architectural installation, is made of over one million yards of digitally knitted fiber... 
Founder, Editor in Chief: Julia Buntaine
Contributing & Guest Writers: Sarah Allen Eagen, Joe Ferguson, Sofia Fortunato, Michal Gavish, Elise Gellweiler, Lynn Krizan, Kathryn M. Nock, Allison Palenske

Partners Announcement

Picture
Sometimes when artists and scientists collaborate, it seems like we are speaking different languages. Nancy Lowe, director of Art + Science In the Field: AS IF Center, has begun developing an art-science glossary to help artists and scientists feel less like we are in a foreign country when we walk into a lab or studio. 

SciArt Magazine & Center partner AS IF Center is a hybrid of a biological field station and an artists community. Because the work at AS IF leans toward organismal biology and landscape ecology, the science terms on the glossary page reflect that bias. There are also a few terms related to academia, publishing, and statistics that are pertinent to a scientist's life.
​
Nancy is treating the art-science glossary page as a Wiki and invites you to send your input. Pick a word (or several), using words that are already on the page or adding some of your own. Write a short definition (using an art lens and/or a science lens), then email Nancy at sciencecandance@gmail.com, with "AS IF Glossary" in the subject line. Feel free to offer criticism or edits on the words already published on the page. Words that have different meanings in art and science (like "media" or "design") are especially welcome.

Have fun with it, and thanks for your contribution!   ​

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