What causes matter to spin in the cosmic void?
ASSUNTA SERA: "My interest in astronomy began with Passport to the Universe at the Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium. The story of the birth of stars and astronomy culminated in my devoting many hours to research and study. There was a marked increase in imagination, invention, and experimentation in my work. My earlier paintings, based on observation, faded into the past. This new encapsulation of inspiration and its manifestation became a means to study collisions of space as well as artificial and natural geometries. In my most recent work, as I continue to direct my gaze skyward, I use celestial events as inspiration for 'spacescapes': the congealing of nebulae, the colliding of particles, and the birth of stars. Now, as I explore the abstracted frontiers of the solar system, I ask the viewer to see the universe as an abstract, ever-moving pattern that continues beyond the borders of the painting surface. I use large, irregularly shaped canvases to encapsulate this imagery more organically, as bright, striking fragments. The dramatic asymmetrical trapezoids and indented triangles contain colorful fluid approximations of cosmic particles moving through time and space - attracting, creating, and destroying - just as color moves across the canvas during my painting process. I think of this work as "Fragments of the Universe," a contemporary visual journey capturing painterly improvisations of infinite space, endless motion, and a universe that is continuously changing. Through asymmetrical shapes and painterly paintings, the universe is pictured as fragments of a whole that is magical and ever forming."
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What can we learn from viewing problems from 100 simultaneous perspectives?
RON WILD: "My smART Map collages take a fractured and sometimes fractal perspective. Rather than searching desperately for a definitive all-encompassing view, I drill down to 80-100 distinct facets of the matter. Unique combinations of the parts provide innovative whole views."
RON WILD: "My smART Map collages take a fractured and sometimes fractal perspective. Rather than searching desperately for a definitive all-encompassing view, I drill down to 80-100 distinct facets of the matter. Unique combinations of the parts provide innovative whole views."
What is the role of drawing in therapy for dyslexic children?
JOYCE SANCHEZ: "My research project aims to explore a method of art therapy to give treatment to individuals with dyslexia. Art Only For Dyslexic (AOFD) explores the concrete relations between art, psychology, and neuropsychology to address dyslexia. AOFD is a multi-disciplinary pictorial therapy that approaches dyslexia strengthening the visio-neurological perspective, the working memory d̩eficits, the nonverbal compensatory aspect and the orthographic depth. AOFD consists in four steps: [1] Unknown, [2] Exploration, [3] Recognition, and [4] Reflection."
What roles can interactive digital art play in informing the public about climate change and habitat destruction?
ALINTA KRAUTH: "For the past two years I have been exploring different ways of communicating the issues of habitat destruction and climate change through forms of interactive digital art. I've attempted this through interactive augmented reality, data-driven screen-based works, game-like interactive apps, and mixed-reality sculptures. In each case, evolving media technologies are experimented with to create digital interaction and data communication. Each of my works involves secondary research into recently published scientific papers, and often scientific literature books are produced along with my exhibitions so that others can also be informed by this research. Sometimes I am lucky enough to work directly with scientists through artist residency programs within scientific institutions. One example of this is my 'Under-Mine' exhibition at Art Laboratory Berlin that included one interactive piece and five video animation pieces. These works highlighted how certain animals' sensory systems are being changed, sometimes for the better but often for the worse, by climate change. This seems to be a reality that is under-communicated to the general public and deeply under-explored in the arts. But most attention has been received by my works that use outdoor projection-mapping (or very site-specific projection art) to augment stylized native animals back into the locations where they used to be seen. These are held as free live events within forest locations, so that adults and children alike can walk through the forest and engage with these digital creatures. My hope is that in doing so, these works bridge a gap between the entertaining and the poignant in outdoor projection art. I mention this as 'sustainable', as often it is believed that digital art and power consumption go hand-in-hand. In my case, I make use of small battery-powered electronics that draw only a fraction of power, and thus my projection kits can fit into the palm of one's hand. I create strong relationships with public landowners and national parks to make sure these events do not impact in any way on the places where they are held. The outcome is art events that draw people into their local forests and get them excited about, and interacting with, nature."
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How can we meaningfully connect with microscopic organisms that surround us?
TOSCA TERAN: "I've been building a body of work with the goal of creating an installation depicting the 'spaces in-between' - for instance, the air we breath. To do this, I draw from microscopic imagery of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Radiolaria and Melethallia and creating three dimensional sculptural representations from sliced Vitrigraph cane and murrini. I use various methods of creating cane and murrini in a studio environment. Working with stainless steel molds, refractory materials, and a Vitrigraph kiln set-up, cane, and murrini are produced. This murrini and cane are cut and sliced, and arranged into two dimensional and three dimensional patterns and structures resembling invertebrates such as: Melethallia, Phytoplankton and Radiolaria. They are then tack-fused and cast into the cellular forms mentioned above and/or constructed using metal armatures."
TOSCA TERAN: "I've been building a body of work with the goal of creating an installation depicting the 'spaces in-between' - for instance, the air we breath. To do this, I draw from microscopic imagery of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Radiolaria and Melethallia and creating three dimensional sculptural representations from sliced Vitrigraph cane and murrini. I use various methods of creating cane and murrini in a studio environment. Working with stainless steel molds, refractory materials, and a Vitrigraph kiln set-up, cane, and murrini are produced. This murrini and cane are cut and sliced, and arranged into two dimensional and three dimensional patterns and structures resembling invertebrates such as: Melethallia, Phytoplankton and Radiolaria. They are then tack-fused and cast into the cellular forms mentioned above and/or constructed using metal armatures."
What is the current and future anthropology of Homo Electricus?
KELLY HEATON: "My project, The Human Electric, is a mixed-media treatise on the anthropology of an emergent being: Homo electricus. As stated by professor Katina Michael, "We are on the brink of building a new sentient being, a bearer of electricity, a modern man belonging to a new race, beyond that which can be considered merely part man part machine." I explore contemporary identity through a combination of portraiture, sculpture, ritual costume, electronics, computer science, and neoshamanism. As an artist and engineer born on the cusp of the digital era, I struggle to understand what it means to human in symbiosis with computers. I am currently investigating the power of neoshamanism to heal spiritual problems of high-tech origin because, following the law of averages, highly technological Man must be balanced by highly non-technical factors. To this end, I am building a shamanic machine that searches for answers in digital media."
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How can I represent the magnificent mystery of the human brain in fabric, thread, and paint?
LAUREN BUNDESEN: "I am fascinated by our brains and how they work - how much we know and how much is still a mystery. With my neuro-art pieces, I start by drawing out the brain form on raw canvas; then I collage with fabric, trim and hand embroidery, working intuitively and improvising as I go. Finally, I stretch the canvas and paint around the fiber work. My goal is to inspire others to think about the brain in a different way and to provide inspirational imagery to people with brain disease or injury. I'm especially inspired by people I've met who have shared their stories with me, and by all the people who live with or help care for someone with dementia or mental illness."
LAUREN BUNDESEN: "I am fascinated by our brains and how they work - how much we know and how much is still a mystery. With my neuro-art pieces, I start by drawing out the brain form on raw canvas; then I collage with fabric, trim and hand embroidery, working intuitively and improvising as I go. Finally, I stretch the canvas and paint around the fiber work. My goal is to inspire others to think about the brain in a different way and to provide inspirational imagery to people with brain disease or injury. I'm especially inspired by people I've met who have shared their stories with me, and by all the people who live with or help care for someone with dementia or mental illness."
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How can we color without pigment?
CORAL FOWLEY: "All of my work to date has been inspired by the natural sciences, in particular the connection between human sight and color. Currently, I am pursuing this theme within a body of work which consists of multiple large pieces exploring patterns and visual details of natural colorants, each accompanied by a small body of text. From my training as a textile screen printer, I have an ingrained understanding of textile pigments, and how they are used and made. I utilize my skill set as a designer and artist to portray this research in a visual, inclusive way."
CORAL FOWLEY: "All of my work to date has been inspired by the natural sciences, in particular the connection between human sight and color. Currently, I am pursuing this theme within a body of work which consists of multiple large pieces exploring patterns and visual details of natural colorants, each accompanied by a small body of text. From my training as a textile screen printer, I have an ingrained understanding of textile pigments, and how they are used and made. I utilize my skill set as a designer and artist to portray this research in a visual, inclusive way."
How can art be influenced by science and still preserve its phenomenological nature?
GIANLUCA BIANCHINO: "Through multimedia sculpture and installation I transcend my understanding of spatial complexity. The work engages science and architecture in an exploration of the underlying geometry of nature and the built environment. But the attempt to fully understand complex ideas in physics and astronomy almost always fail resulting in works that reside in an independent metaphysical context. My current bodies of work include: interactive optical sculptures, unstable topographical surfaces, and large scale installations intended to present chaos as a believable visual system."