The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building
vlicata | March 31, 2016The Martian is a feel-good, science positive, uplifting film about the power of the human spirit, botany, and engineering. It looked, from the credits, like it had at least 8 scientific advisors from NASA (and possibly other places). Too bad that Ridley Scott only half listened to them. As one of the primary sci-fi filmmakers working today, it’s kind of amazing how a lot of the science in Ridley Scott’s films sort of leaves a chalky taste in the mouth. (Take a look at this link for a scathing review of the science in Prometheus).
It’s clear that The Martian is science-positive – the main…
vlicata | November 21, 2013It's time again for John Bohannon's annual "Dance Your Ph.D." contest. This year, in my opinion, there are even more high quality entries than in previous years! (I was one of the judges who did the first round of choices...the "winners" were then chosen by a panel that includes several professional dancers (for several years it has been members of Pilobulus)). And they are all now posted online ("winners" at the link above - all the videos are posted here - because really they are ALL winners in my opinion.
And if you can come up with more difficult ways to try to explain science - we could…
vlicata | October 31, 2013I have a small part in a show called SACRED WASTE which was created by LSU Ph.D. student Bonny McDonald – which is playing in the upcoming New Orleans Fringe Fest. The show involves dance, poetry, ritual, elaborate costumes (made of 100% recycled plastic), and explores many aspects of the relationship between humans and plastic – including the manufacture of it here in Louisiana, and some introductory polymer chemistry! SACRED WASTE was one of 30 shows jury selected to play in the New Orleans Fringe Festival (out of > 200 entries).
This performance art show is a unique blend of art and…
vlicata | May 19, 2013I was discussing SciArt on several occasions with different people recently and was fishing for a way to classify different SciArt in order to make a particular point - the point being that the type of SciArt I find most interesting and valuable is in the minority. Basically, it seems there are 3 (or maybe 4) general types of SciArt: informational, inspirational, and degradational. I should note that mostly I am talking about SciArt that is performed - mostly plays and movies. Although probably some variant of this can be applied to visual arts or music and such.
Degradational is when the…
vlicata | April 8, 2012I recently read David Kirby's new book on science film consulting. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone even remotely or subconsciously interested in being a science consultant for the next Iron Man or Transformers, or smaller budget real-life dramas with real-life science in them. His book is both easy and interesting to read - and is filled with information. He explores the history of science-consulting, going all the way back to "Woman in the Moon" and of course the still canonical "2001: A Space Odyssey", and discusses a large number of recent examples. He does not glorify…
vlicata | March 24, 2011The chair of the Theatre Dept. here at LSU and I have begun co-producing a new "SciArt Conversation Series" here at LSU -- where we get scientists and artists on stage together at the same time for informal presentations of their work. We are trying to pick combinations that have some sort of real or semantic overlap. Our first one, which we just called "Silk", had an entomologist talking about the evolution of spiders and spider silk along with a choreographer and two dancers demonstrating and explaining dance moves on hanging silks.
This first one had a small but very vocal and…
worldsfair | November 2, 2010Sorry it's been a bit quiet here lately. Things have been busy at the museum, and I've also been writing in other places. In particular, These days I'm a guest blogger at Boing Boing, and on top of that, I'm also having fun starting a children's novel.
This novel has a mouthful of a title, Lizzie Popperfont and the Collider Whale Tale, and it's been partly inspired by my time here at the Natural History Museum. More importantly, there's going to be an underlying and subtle narrative that asks, "What happens to society and culture when only self interested elites are aware of the…
vlicata | August 15, 2010Part 1 of "Do You Like the Big Bang Theory?", addressed whether one emotionally "likes" the scientific theories one works on - and how or if that should impact one's work. Here I'd like to talk about the television show.
"The Big Bang Theory" has been highly touted and praised as being the best science-in-fiction on regular television, but it has also been criticized for being its rather demeaning portrayal of science grad students. I think the show is extremely funny - and I mostly enjoy watching it for that reason. Other than "2.5 Men", it's probably the funniest show on regular tv (and…
worldsfair | August 3, 2010
(Lifted, 2009, 40"x30", acrylic on panel)
You can see more at this link. Let me know if you find yourself both quietly mesmorized and disturbed as you take in his images.
From his "about" page:
Biography
Josh Keyes was born in Tacoma, Washington. He received a BFA in 1992 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in 1998 from Yale. Eighteenth-century aesthetics and philosophies, particularly those of the Neoclassical and Romantic movements, shape his work. Keyes is drawn to the clinical and often cold vocabulary of scientific textbook illustrations, which express the…
vlicata | July 31, 2010There is one month to go to submit to the 2010 "Dance Your Ph.D" Contest! Entries are due by September 1st. My lab previously won in the Professor category, so I get to be one of the judges for the 2010 contest. This is our dance from the 2009 contest:
And what we won was: a real dance! Jenn Liang Chaboud, a real choreographer in Chicago, created a dance based on one of our lab's publications in JBC, here is the dance she created:
This is Science: Jenn Liang Chaboud from Red Velvet Swing on Vimeo.
The two muscular guys are Klenow and Klentaq DNA polymerases, the women are all DNA.
THIS…
worldsfair | July 29, 2010Great illustration for children, even though it may not be anatomically correct.
By Peter Slight - Larger version can be found here.
Seeing piece like this makes me think a wonderful art project would be to create a whole new design driven anatomy book - one that may even be as comprehensive as Gray's Anatomy (the book not the TV series).
worldsfair | July 28, 2010
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This video of a talk I gave at Northern Voice got completed whilst I was away. Anyway, if I remember (I'm one of those people who can't stand seeing themselves on video or hearing themselves on audio!), it's a pretty decent overview of what the Phylo project is all about, as well as general thoughts on things of that nature worth pursuing. Here's the byline that was given with my speaker profile:
David Ng describes Phylo, a cool trading card game to teach biodiversity. A study showed that children could easily identify and describe a large number of Pokemon characters…
worldsfair | June 10, 2010
Speaking of robots: you might be interested in the types of "deep thoughts" they have.
worldsfair | May 22, 2010
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Happy Biodiversity Day!
Well, it's been about 5 weeks, and the Phylo project is close to 100 cards, all ready for free printing. As well, a set of rules is now available that is polished enough to go through some beta testing.
Today, we even have an "Oil Spill" card, and I'd like to invite people to leave comments on what text should go on this particular card. Is it too lenient right now, or too harsh? We're really hoping that as the project progresses, the comments on the site will ultimately guide what needs to go on (or off) the cards.
In fact, while I'm making…
worldsfair | May 21, 2010... You should go outside. Seriously.
And if, for today, you've forgotten how graceful our planet can be, I'd invite you to take a mental break, put some headphones on, and watch these three lovely videos.
Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.
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worldsfair | May 17, 2010
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Original article can be found at our Science Scout site.
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(Acronyms used: SSBFME = Science Scout Badges Free Market Economy)
So... It's been a few years since the Science Scouts were born, and (at last count) we have received over 300 emails from various Indian or Chinese Embroidery companies looking to "offer their badge making services." Finally, we're now of mind to finally lay out a game plan for the selling and obtaining of these Science Scout badges, physically.
And basically, we're going with the free market model - specifically the SSBFME.
In other words, if…
worldsfair | May 11, 2010Last Friday and Saturday, I went to Northern Voice 2010, a gathering of 500+ individuals intent on absorbing everything that a "Personal Blogging and Social Media Conference" can muster.
And I must say, that it was a treat to be there - not only because it had a nice friendly, informal vibe which makes for great learning opportunities, but also because I was fortunate enough to be a speaker.
My first slide
Specifically, I had a chance to tell folks about the phylo project; the awesomeness of mutualistic relationships (a.k.a. the squid and the bacteria); the beauty of the scientific method;…
vlicata | May 9, 2010Going to a party at Tony Stark's house would be awesomely fun, and Iron Man 2 has its fair share of highly enjoyable scenes, though not as many as Iron Man 1, but it definitely could have used some science consulting help. Despite Tony Stark's apparently scientifically flawless use of a soldering iron in #1, here in #2 he constructs what appears to be a cross between a laser and a small synchrotron (which shot light in the wrong direction, inward instead of outward - or possibly looked like it might have been diverting the whole beam, which wouldn't work for more than about a nanosecond -…
worldsfair | April 29, 2010Specifically, I'm trying to see whether we can engage folks into the PHYLO card process by seeing if they work with requests. And we're going to start with a special one - coming from a luminary in the science plus art arena, this is from Margaret Atwood, who notes that her favourite organism is the horseshoe crab (or if we're being a little more precise, Limulus polyphemus).
In case, you're not sure what Ms. Atwood is talking about, it's one of these:
(Image by iloew)
Curiously enough, we have an image already in the PHYLO illustration pool. It's great too, but let's see if we can get a…
worldsfair | April 22, 2010Seriously, if there's a day to enjoy the outdoors, then that would have to be Earth Day. If, however, you find yourself stuck inside due to poor weather, volcanic ash plumes, or some other reason, then go check out the Phylo game (http://phylogame.org).
It's been up for about a week and a bit, and is already gaining some steady traffic (it's creeping up on google and giving the Greek pastry a run for its money!). Normally, we only put up one new card per weekend, but because it's a special day, we're putting up 6 new cards, and with a variety of different art styles to boot.
As if that…