Biophilia

Well, this is garunteed to me my thing: science, technology, nature, art, music, multimedia and Björk. I am, in fact, amazed I did not know sooner, but blame that on actually being offshore when Björk's new Biophilia app was released (thanks to bioephemera for the link). This is an innovative way of releasing music, taking avantage of tablet (iPhone, iPad) technology and the opportunities for interactive audiovisual apps. Though I've been a fan of Björk since her Debut album, and confess both her music and her subject matter are likely to hook me, and further, that I have the sneaking suspicion that Sir David Attenborough could read the phone book in a voice which would still be mesmorizing, full of awe and wonder, but I think she deserves kudos for this project, and for cultural innovation.

Thus far the Cosmogony and Crystalline apps are available. Cosmogony contains an interactive stylized galaxy, like the animation in the video above, which the user can navigate to each of the other songs/apps and can use to play with (almost remix) samples of Björk's music by moving fingers on the touch-screen. The intro above, the song animated as a stylized geometrical score, the actual score and the lyrics are included. The song itself is structured to mimic astronomical cycles and the lyrics allude to origine myths and modern cosmology.



The video (directed by Michael Gondry) above gives you a hint of Crystalline. The app allows users to create their own 'crystals' and associated music. This hits on the crystals in comtemporary art and illustration trend, as well as the harkening back to the Victorian wunkerammer though the "nature, music, technology" formulation feels very modern. Describing humans as the link between the microscopic and the universal, she ties all her science-inspired songs/apps together (ranging from microscopic scales of the virus, through the planetary with moon, mutual core and solstice, and the galactic dark matter to universal cosmogony). Unlike the Victorian approach to natural history, and obsessive collecting of wunderkammer, which was fueled by nostalgia and a morbid fear of death, this project is permeated with wonder and optimism about the future, and the opportunities for technological advancement to lead to a more harmonious relationship with nature. The earth scientist in me can't wait to see what she comes up with for mutual core, which alludes to the structure of the Earth and plate tectonics. The artistic and musical interpretations of the subject matter are (thus far) more metaphorical than literal, but what I've seen is both engaging (mesmerizing, even) and surprisingly educational. I love the way the user is invited to participate, manipulating and creating more music. This is a very refreshing way of viewing fans as participants at minimum and possibly even collaborators rather than mere consumers. I love also the understanding that scientific explanations of the beauty we see around us makes these things more wonderful, not less.

mapping emotions

Graphic designer Orlagh O'Brien surveyed 250 men and women (strangers, with varying mastery of English, from 35 countries, from age 6 to 75) to map how and where emotions are felt in a variety of ways, and produced a series of composite images. The images above were gathered by asking, "Q2: How do you feel these emotions in your body? Draw anything you wish."



These answers were solicited with the question, "Q3: Where do you feel these emotions in your body? Draw one spot only". She also breaks down results by emotion. This is joy, as mapped by colour ("Q4: What colours do you associate with these emotions? Refer to numbered colour chart,") and direction ("Q5: Do your emotions have direction? If yes, draw arrows,").

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O'Brien writes, "Over time, this method may be developed into a therapeutic tool, and/or a means of visually representing feeling in an interactive, participatory manner."

More at Emotionally vague via curiosity counts.

Collecting Wunderkammer

As someone who collects information, images and ideas about cabinets of curiosity, I had seen Boston artist Rosamond Purcell's marvellous recreation, with some artistic licence of 17th centuary Danish physian Olaus Wormius (or Ole Worm)'s wunderkammer, as depicted in text and engravings in the catalog of his Museum Wormianum.





Via Thombeau's new form is void blog, I found this great photo essay from Slate about Purcell's work. Many of her other projects have shared the wunderkammer's purpose of archiving the ephemeral, while straddling the art-science interface. She's documented specimens from natural history museums, collections of naturalists, but likewise human-made decaying artifacts and collections of all sorts.


Rosamond Purcell, The Uncurated Jar. From Finders, Keepers: Eight Collectors, 1992. Courtesy Rosamond Purcell.


Rosamond Purcell, Teeth Pulled by Peter the Great. From Finders, Keepers: Eight Collectors, 1992.

Apparently, Peter the Great was not only an avid keeper of his own wunderkammer, but a "self-proclaimed dentist".


Rosamond Purcell, Cleared and Stained Bat in Glycerine. From Illuminations: A Bestiary, with Stephen Jay Gould, 1986.

She's also created artifacts of her own. Like artists previously profiled, who collaborate with insects (including Hubert Duprat's work with caddis fly larvae, Hilary Berseth's work with bees and Aganetha Dyck's work with bees), she used termites (maintained by a biologist collaborator) to eat the pages of anatomical and architectural texts which then formed the basis of collage pieces.



Rosamond Purcell, With the Modern. From Bookworm, 2006.

These investigations of the worlds of the collectors, the collections, their idiosyncracies, the lost and forgotten, the decaying, and of course, of books and book arts, appeal to me on many levels. I must find more.

more like our fathers

In time for Canada Day, tomorrow, I bring you cross-stitched hockey heros by Canadian artist Mike Macri, (via The Jealous Curator).


Bernie Parent


Gump Worsley


Jacques Plante


Tony Esposito

When I was small I thought it was Tony and Phil S. Posito, but that really doesn't make much sense does it? Did I think their parents were dedicated to naming sons with middle names which begin with S?

Exploring the Void

Local Toronto-based, Japanese-born illustrator Yuta Onoda, has some beautiful illustrations in his portfolio. He plays with proportion, animals as symbols and has a sense of space, or emptiness in his work, which I find appealing. His colour palette is restrained and lovely.


The Mask She Wears. Mixed media and digital.


Hope Leaves. Mixed media and digital.


Exploring the Void. Mixed media and digital.


Shadowed by Coyotes. Mixed media and digital.


The Tiger Mom. Mixed media and digital.

Check out his portfolio here and blog here.

Haeckelesque & Codex

Several people (i.e. this is a what) have recently posted the wonderous illustrations of Katie Scott, but how could I resist? They remind me of course of botonical and zoological illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, with a modern, magical twist.











Ernst Haekel(February 16, 1834 – August 9, 1919), the famed German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist, whose book "Art Forms in Nature" filled with lovely 19th century scientific illustrations of biology has inspired many of my prints. I've had Haeckel on the brain even more than usual, having completed his portrait this week. So here we have the man himself, surrounded by several of the creatures he depicted. Clockwise from the top we have: rugosa, a foraminifer (or foram), a tubularid hydroid, homo sapiens (Ernst Haeckel), a dinoflagellate, and a sea slug or nudibranch.


Katie Scott's familiar, yet imaginary creatures, also remind me of my favorite book which I've never seen in person*: the Codex Seraphinianus, written and illustrated by Italian architect Luigi Serafini from 1976 to 1978. It's a visual encyclopedia, of a foreign, paradoxical yet familiar, world, complete with its own language and obscure meanings.















There's much more to this publication than I've shown, so do yourself a favour and check out this list where it has been digitized in its surreal entirety! It has been compared to the Voynich Manuscript, a medieval manuscript in an undeciphered script (looks like a combination of roman characters and numbers) with illustrations of a seemingly scientific nature (botanical, astronomical or astrological, pharmaceutical) which has confused cryptologists and medievalists for decades.

*Hint to friends and loved ones: I need this book. Any edition is fine by me!

Sculpting Data and Painting Time Series

Nathalie Miebach employs real data - astronomical, ecological and meteorological - which she 'translates' into woven sculpture. She uses basket weaving to provide a grid for plotting data! She writes, "By staying true to the numbers, these woven pieces tread an uneasy divide between functioning both as sculptures in space as well as instruments that could be used in the actual environment from which the data originates." She's fascinated by scientific informatics and the role of aesthetics as well as the respective domains of art and science. She's also translated data into musical scores and collaborated with musicians. Some of her work involves her own data gathering.

Consider the following. (All text in italics is by Miebach).

Changing Water - Gulf of Maine
mixed media, data
(proto-type for a 20 foot long wall installation), 20’x10’ x 1’, 2011

This semi-kinetic piece looks at the interaction between meteorological conditions and marine environments in the Gulf of Maine.



Hurricane Noel
Ink, data
11”x17”, 2010

Using meteorological information from two weather stations (Hyannis, MA and Natashquan, Quebec) and one off shore buoy (George’s Bank), this score translates barometric, wind and temperature readings to try to discern the path Hurricane Noel took as it entered the Gulf of Maine during Nov 3-5, 2007. So far this score has been interpreted by “Butter”, a musical band from Provincetown, MA, and the Axis Ensemble, a new music group formed by composition graduate student from Tufts University.


“Changing Waters” looks at the meteorological and oceanic interactions within the Gulf of Maine. Using data from NOAA and GOMOSS buoys within the Gulf of Maine, as well as weather stations along the coast, I am translating data that explores the seasonal variations of marine life by looking at the interactions of atmospheric and marine data. Elements of the rich New England fishing history are also included. This large-scale installation consists of a large wall installation (33 feet wide) that plots information through the geographic anchors of a map of the Gulf of Maine, as well as a series of large, hanging structures (10 feet high) that look at more specific biological, chemical or geophysical relationships between marine ecosystems and weather patterns.

On display at the Fuller Craft Museum, Jan 15 – Sept 25, 2011. (www.fullercraft.org)



Antarctic Tidal Rhythms
Reed, wood, styrofoam, data, 8’ x 6’ x 3’, 2006

Using a base of 24 hours, this piece converts various layers of data (Jan-Dec 2005) related to the gravitational influence of both Sun and Moon on the Antarctic environment. The inner structure converts sunrise/set and moonrise/set data into the woven structure, with every weave representing one hour. Additional data translated include tide readings moon phases, solar noon readings and the molecular structure of ice.


Warm Winter
Reed, wood, data, 6’x 5’x6’, 2007

Using a base of 24 hours, this piece converts locally collected data (at Herring Cove) , with data from regional buoys (source: Gulf of Maine Observation System) and historical data (source: www.wunderground.com, NOAA and U.S. Naval Observatory). Data converted includes temperature (air, water, soil), wind speed and direction, tides and moon phases. The time frame translated is Dec 2006 – January 2007.

I've seen other artists who employ scientific data as a starting point for their art. But we can contrast what Miebach does with say, the paintings of Jonathan Zawada (below) in that she preserves the spatiotemporal relations of - and hence, if you know the mapping, the information encoded in - the data by literally 'plotting' in her basketwoven grid on on a musical score, rather than merely employing it as an aesthetic inspiration. (Toril Johannessen on the other hand, simply - and beautifully - plots data, just as any scientist would, but perhaps with a more panache, and allows the carefully selected time series speak for themselves). Further Miebach, by gathering her own data, combining it with public data sources and observing how for instance temperatures are affecting local flora and fauna, she is much more intimately tied the science, and her work is more informed by observation. I am tickled by the times series selected by Zawada and find his paintings pleasing, but I am awed by what Miebach does. I've quoted her directly so as to appear reasonable and avoid writing something uncouth like, "OMG this is the most amazing thing evar!"

Jonathan Zawada modelled 2D time series (somewhat regretably referred to "graph data" but that's really unlikely to annoy anyone unless, like me, they spend a lot of time doing time series analysis, so all non-scientists should simply ignore this digression) into 3D landscapes which he then painted in oil on canvas. Each canvas was presented behind a plinth with a mirror on which the original time series is printed.


Earth Movers, Oil on linen 39.37 x 75.59 inches 100 x 192 cm



photo showing Populations, Oil on linen 37.01 x 78.74 inches 94 x 200 cm


Flight 77, Oil on linen 59.06 x 46.06 inches149.9 x 117 cm (altitude versus time data)