Author: Minna Porvari

Aspire awe of what we don’t yet know.

Keywords: astrophotography, social impact, art as a way to communicate

Who?

Astrophotographer Jukka-Pekka Metsävainio, Oulu, Finland. His photos have been published in National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institute and museum, NASA and Wired.

What?

The astrophotographer’s goal is to capture beauty.

Metsävainio’s panoramic photo of the Milky Way consists of hundreds of photos, shows over 20 million stars and covers 125 degrees of the sky cover. The photos were taken over 12 years. Currently, it is the most large-scale photo of the Milky Way galaxy. The photo is also a piece of art. Metsävainio is an artist by education, but self-taught in astrophotography and he has developed new techniques himself to get better photos. The colors in his photos are based on the colors that elementals emanate. But his goal is still to capture beauty.

Why?

Metsävainio’s photos are a way of making people more aware of what it is like in space. The point lies in the ways we can raise interest in specific fields. The naked eye cannot even imagine the true appearance of the Milky Way, but Metsävaino has been able to prove and capture this beauty with photographic skills.

Results

Astrophotographer Jukka-Pekka Metsävainio’s photographs of the Milky Way and space have gained international fame. The photos are incredibly detailed and high-resolution. This case has awoken engaging questions about the unexplored sides of the universe. This case is one of the greatest examples of how much power visuality has on our comprehension especially on large scale phenomenon.

Metsävainio is a visual artist, not an astronomer. He did not wait 12 years for this work to be finished. He published independent samples as their own work, and gradually filmed the gap between these samples. He had planned the final result beforehand; The angles and composition had to be considered well in advance because they cannot be changed afterwards.

Technology is an artist’s tool. Taking long exposure times requires equipment that makes the camera follow the stars. Metsävainio has assembled his own equipment. “It’s a terrible-looking tune-up,” said Metsävainio. The axis of the German-made pedestal is parallel to the Earth’s axis. Basically, it’s a backward-rotating clock that keeps the camera pointing closely at the same spot in the constellation.

Sources

Metsavainio, J., 2022. Astro Anarchy. [online] Astroanarchy.blogspot.com. Available at: https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Metsävainio, J., 2022. Astro Anarchy. [online] Astro Anarchy. Available at: https://astroanarchy.zenfolio.com/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Paukku, T., 2021. Oululaisen tähti­kuvaajan tarkka otos Linnun­radasta ihastuttaa ympäri maailmaa: ”Haluan näyttää, kuinka upea maailmamme todella on”. [online] Helsingin Sanomat. Available at: https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000007899693.html [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Collaboration between the arts and science affect humans’ everyday life.

Keywords: prototyping, everyday life, future designs

Who?

STARTS Lighthouse Re-FREAM.

Artist and designer: Giulia Tomasello.

The co-creation process was facilitated by Fraunhofer IZM.

What?

Nova Innova’s aim is to inspire others by their collaboration with nature.

ALMA is a collaboration between a variety of professionals (material scientists, medical anthropologists, interaction designers, clothing designers, fashion designers). The project team organized workshops and a survey for women to participate in the conversation and thus gaining permission to collect data on stigma and taboos regarding intimate health. The artistic identity of the project was refined through the co-creation process with 11 international fashion designers.

Why?

ALMA opened a space of innovation, where women can become aware of their own bodies by becoming empowered through technology. The aim is to provoke societal changes by rethinking fashion and technology together.

Results

T. ALMA will continue to build on the results demonstrated by its first pH sensing prototype and co-creation. The prototypes are also proof that collaboration has true value when designing wearable technology for female’s healthcare.

The project delved further into the physiological aspects of the female body, conducting a lot of remote research to understand which under-served health conditions experienced by women could be addressed by Alma.

During the physical co-creation process in Berlin (Fraunhofer IZM), they successfully built a modular design where the technology is embedded in the gusset of the underwear, where the pH sensor is located, and the data is carried through some conductive wires to a small case where the electronics are kept. The prototype even has wireless communication that can potentially allow a woman to access her own information, to know better her body and feel encouraged to seek help when needed.

With Silke, a clothing designer, they investigated the inclusivity of clothing and how the garment itself can be a tool to let women be empowered and feel comfortable with technology that comes very close to their body. They managed to produce four pairs of underwear with two different styles: a 50s style and a basic style.

Sources

Tomasello, G., 2020. ALMA. [online] Re-fream.eu. Available at: https://re-fream.eu/alma/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Tomasello, G., Busolo, T., Farina, I. and Mizuta, R., n.d. ALMA. [online] Al-ma.org. Available at: https://al-ma.org/Smart-Underwear [Accessed 18 March 2022].

The Sourcebook for teaching science

Keywords: strategies, instructions, arts a way to communicate

Who?

Authors Norman Herr and James Cunningham, and published by Jossey-Bass, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

What?

Science is usually seen as an abstract subject.

The Sourcebook for Teaching Science is designed to complement any secondary school science curriculum. Science teachers will find ready-to-use demonstrations, experiments, illustrations, games, puzzles, analogies, lessons, activities, and strategies, as well as explanations of how to adapt these for English learners and diverse student groups. All topics are accompanied by extensive background material, providing teachers with the scientific, organizational, and pedagogical principles necessary for successful classroom implementation.

Why?

Science is usually seen as an abstract subject. Using games, analogies and illustrations give the pupils the possibility to touch and play with science.

Results

This project gives the pupils in secondary school the possibility to play with science. It is scientifically proof that Serious Games offer considerable potential for facilitating both formal and informal learning experiences. Games combine different aspects coming from the arts skills, such as graphic design and storytelling, and technological skills such as programming, logic, math.

The possibility to play with science.

The Sourcebook for Teaching Science was released in 2006 by Jossey-Bass, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and written by Norman Herr and James Cunningham. It was first published as a tool for teachers in secondary school, enabling them to present sciences in a more applied way, using serious games, puzzles, experiments, illustrations, and strategies.

The contents of the book are now available on the Internet. A series of games are presented, and there are many other resources simplifying scientific concepts using videos, visualization, mind maps and so on.

Sources

Herr, N., 2007. The Sourcebook for Teaching Science. [online] Csun.edu. Available at: http://www.csun.edu/science/index.html [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Mind the fungi

Keywords: arts to STEM, network utilization, sustainability

Who?

Departments of Applied and Molecular Microbiology and Bioprocess Engineering of the TU Berlin and the art and research platform Art Laboratory Berlin.

Artists: Theresa Schubert & Fara Peluso.

What?

Mind the Fungi is a project which uses the interdisciplinary concept from STEM to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Art) to expand scientific research with artistic and design-based research. Work is done with Berlin citizens, artists and designers to develop new ideas and technologies for mushroom and lichen-based materials. “Walk & Talks” are public events and a part of Mind the Fungi, to explore the potential of sustainable biomaterials from fungi. Also, an “Artists in Residence” program brings art and design into this project supporting the aspect of sharing research processes and findings with the public.

Why?

All this was to provide citizens with an opportunity for scientific collaboration, to give the public an understanding of the importance of fungal biotechnology for a sustainable future and to establish a research network at the TU Berlin.

Results

The Walk & Talks offered diverse perspectives on the forests and their cultural meaning. Also, during the artist residencies, Schubert studied the effects of sound on fungal growth and Peluso did research on new biomaterials on the symbiotic basis of algae and fungi. The creative works are a result of a close collaboration with both departments of TU Berlin’s Institute of Biotechnology. The final exhibition presented new results from the laboratories of the Institute of Biotechnology at TU Berlin.

Mushrooms are used in biotechnology as cell factories to produce antibiotics, immunosuppressants, cholesterol-lowering drugs, antimalarials, insulin, prebiotics, pigments, organic acids, enzymes, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and more. The fungal biotechnology of the 20th century managed to establish itself as an essential platform technology for innumerable branches of industry and thus decisively shapes our daily life and our lifestyle in an invisible way.

At the moment, fungal biotechnology is undergoing a disruptive innovation process, which we want to co-design with citizen scientists in a sustainable manner. Mushrooms, which are produced based on renewable vegetable raw materials in the biotechnological process, are to be converted, with far-reaching consequences, into packaging materials, building materials, and even leather.

With the expertise of applied and molecular microbiology in the field of fungal biotechnology (Prof. Meyer), bioprocess development (Prof. Neubauer) and art and science communication (Art Laboratory Berlin) the aim of the project is also to establish a new, innovative and interdisciplinary field of research at the TU Berlin, which dares right from the beginning to build a bridge in the growing Citizen Science Community in order to integrate their expertise at an early stage.

Sources

Art Laboratory Berlin. 2020. Mind the Fungi. [online] Available at: https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/publications/mind-the-fungi-book/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Meyer, V. and Rapp, R. (Ed.), 2020. Mind the fungi. Berlin: TU Berlin University Press. Available at: https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/publications/mind-the-fungi-book/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Fusing together “Nature Smart” and “Logic Smart” & a pinch of creativity

Keywords: prototyping, multisensory communication, sustainability

Who?

Nova Innova Netherlands.

What?

Nova Innova’s aim is to inspire others through their collaboration with nature.

Nova Innova is a creative start-up based in Rotterdam that combines nature, science, and design to generate crucial, sustainable breakthroughs. Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology enables us to generate energy from organic waste: from compost to mud, from urine to plants. All organic waste streams are turned into sustainable energy sources with this innovative technology.

Why?

There are many interesting things happening in laboratories all over the world, which remain invisible to the general public. The team of Nova Innova aims to bridge the gap between science and everyday life, by developing sustainable applications in the form of a powerful design.

This case teaches individuals to be more sustainable from influencing the way one observes and become aware of how technology can help to generate energy and contribute to sustainability.

Results

The main result of the case is to make visible what happens in laboratories by developing sustainable applications which can be used in everyday life. This is an innovative approach where science and art can work together and contribute in a sustainable way.

Microbial Fuel Cell technology was included in the European Commission’s ‘100 radical innovation breakthroughs for the future’ report in 2019, acknowledging the importance of the development of this sustainable technology. Up until now MFC technology has been investigated in laboratories all over the world but attempts to implement this promising technology in the real world have been limited.

The Living Light indoor design lamp and the outdoor park modules are the first light applications making use of this technology to provide you with energy. Microbial Fuel Cells for the Living Light collaborate with the naturally occurring microbes in the soil to generate energy. MFC technology is comparable with the solar cell of twenty years ago, standing on the brink of becoming a welcome contribution to the renewable energy mix.

The Living Light is there to inspire others to develop this technology to the fullest and to tell the story of MFC technology in a magical way. Before the Living Light project, people were skeptical about the use of this sustainable energy source for practical applications. Now the ‘Park of Tomorrow’, the Living Light Park, and our indoor Living Light lamps are the first global example that we can use this promising technology to light up houses and parks.

Sources

STARTS PRIZE. 2021. The Living Light. [online] Available at: https://starts-prize.aec.at/de/the-living-light/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Livinglight.info. 2022. Living Light. Nova Innova. [online] Available at: https://livinglight.info/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

How can complex data be represented?

Keywords: arts to STEM, social impact, arts as a way to communicate

Who?

MoY, a collective comprising artists Katerina Chryssantopoulou and Benoît Durandin, carry out cross-practices in the fields of art, architecture and science.

A collaborative process with GTD System and Software Engineering, one of the most important European companies in sectors such as space, aeronautics, energy or science.

What?

A collaborative and multidisciplinary process for knowledge exchange and creation of innovation processes between creatives, artists and organizations, developed in the framework of Disonancias (2008-2009), a program where fourteen research projects were developed jointly by international artists and organizations from Catalonia and the Basque Country (Spain).

The Eighth Passenger aimed to develop a reliable source of knowledge to assist space crews. To this end, experimental research was carried out, starting with the question: how can complex data be represented and at what scale? In response, a series of tools were devised to create alternatives or improvements to the graphical interface of decision support systems for users handling large amounts of complex data in a manned space mission control center.

Why?

The Eighth Passenger was an experimental research and prototyping process led by creatives and engineers working together to find a solution to support decision making and decision support systems, modelling of complex data, predictive diagnose and data, among others.

Results

In 2010, GTD presented the Eighth Passenger, conceived as an assistant based on artificial intelligence and augmented reality techniques capable of guiding astronauts on future manned planetary exploration missions. The ePartner helps interpreting complex data and material with which astronauts might not be experts in, such as engineering, medicine or psychology. The aim was to aid them in critical circumstances, and at the same time suggesting actions to be executed in specific situations.

One of the starting questions of this research process was: How can complex data be represented and at what scale? Mo Y created a holistic image by working from physical laws, chemical signals and biological morphogenesis. As a result, the conceptualization of an assistant based on artificial intelligence and augmented reality techniques capable of guiding astronauts on future manned planetary exploration missions in the interpretation and handling of complex data and materials in which they are not experts such as engineering, medicine or psychology. The aim was to aid them in critical circumstances, and at the same time suggesting actions to be executed in specific situations.

Sources

Gtd.eu. 2010. GTD presents the “Eight Passenger” concept for astronaut crew in future space missions. | GTD Blog. [online] Available at: https://www.gtd.eu/en/news-and-events/gtd-presents-eight-passenger-concept-astronaut-crew-future-space-missions [Accessed 25 March 2022].

Zabeli, E. and Chryssanthopoulou, K., 2022. Moy Studio. [online] Moystudio.gr. Available at: https://moystudio.gr/en [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Communicating with something with a few words or lines…

Keywords: simplification, observation skills, advanced awareness

Who?

Artist Al Hirschfeld. He is best remembered for black-and-white drawings of celebrities and show-business stars, Hirschfeld was one of the few artists commissioned to provide art for U.S. postal stamps. His work can be found in museums around the country today, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, both in New York City.

Hirschfeld was also a master of camouflage.

What?

Hirschfeld created recognizable images of anyone or anything. His art and his creative technique itself is thae key point of this Steam case. Visualizing even the most complicated of things in a simple, yet clever way. The case teaches how we can communicate ideas to one another.

Why?

To make communication easier and simpler. The point lies in finding and simplifying the essence, sharpening the main point of an idea. The following method trains us to realize and communicate specific details in our surroundings.

Results

Despite the sharpness of his lines and the clarity of his work, Hirschfeld was also a master of camouflage. Each week, droves of his fans would spend their Sunday’s searching for the word ‘NINA’ in his drawings. What started out as an innocent little gesture to celebrate the birth of his daughter turned into a weekend pastime for millions of readers.

Hisrchfeld’s ‘NINA’s’ became so popular that they were even adopted as a training exercise by the U.S. Army (much to Hisrchfeld’s annoyance). Bomber pilots in training would use the illustrations as a means to improve their detection skills. If they were able to find the ‘NINA’s’ in each illustration, then they were sure to be able to detect hidden targets.

Bomber pilots in training would use the illustrations as a means to improve their detection skills.

In 1924, Hirschfeld traveled to Paris and London, where he studied painting, drawing and sculpture. When he returned to the United States, a friend, fabled Broadway press agent Richard Maney, showed one of Hirschfeld’s drawings to an editor at the New York Herald Tribune, which got Hirschfeld commissions for that newspaper and then, later, The New York Times. Hirschfeld is considered to be one of the most important figures in contemporary drawing and caricature, having influenced countless artists, illustrators, and cartoonists.

Sources

Al Hirschfeld Foundation. 2022. alhirschfeldfoundation.org. [online] Available at: https://www.alhirschfeldfoundation.org/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

McCall, B. and Stern, E., 2021. Always Leave Them Smiling: The Art of Al Hirschfeld. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/books/review/hirschfeld-the-biography-ellen-stern.html [Accessed 18 March 2022].

“Human universe colonization”

Keywords: social impact, space, arts as a way to communicate

Who?

Artists: “Quadrature” made up by Juliane Götz and Sebastian Neitsch, whose research focuses on data and physical experiments.

In collaboration with Silvia Bonoli and Raul Angulo, astrophysicists from the Donostia International Physics Center, and the support of local community science groups.

Installation developed in Tabakalera MediaLab (Donostia, Spain), with the collaboration of Ars Electronica.

What?

This audiovisual installation, created through tracking and gathering the data generated by 590 former spy satellites. Supraspectives follows and calculates satellite trajectories in real time, reconstructing the images captured through an artistic process of speculative reinterpretation.

The installation is generated by remixing images with the data from these satellites and from other ones passing close to the exhibition venue. The installation incorporates on screen data relating to the satellites with which it connects live, such as their country of origin and the year of launch.

A motorized antenna was built and placed on the roof of Tabakalera to transform live radio signals into sounds that were incorporated into the piece.

Why?

The research carried out is based on data interpretation and physical experimentation, exploring our planet and the cosmos, and analysing military space activity and how a large number of these satellites can be considered space junk, despite the fact that they continue to fly overhead. Supraspectatives raise awareness of the phenomena that are hardly accessible to most people.

Results

The resulting audiovisual installation addresses, through an artistic interpretation of scientific data, questions related to the unexplored aspects of human life and the universe. The artwork shows the contrast between stunning earth images taken from outer space as it raises critical awareness about human universe colonization, often related to military and surveillance purposes. The creation process incorporated citizen science actions carried out together with the astronomy group of Tabakalera’s MediaLab and the local amateur radio community.

Sources

Götz, J. and Neitsch, S., 2020. Supraspectives. [online] Quadrature.co. Available at: https://quadrature.co/work/supraspectives/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Regenerative reliquary

Keywords: arts to STEM, concept development, bio art

Who?

Artist Amy Karle with the support of Autodesk, Autodesk’s Pier 9 Artist in Residence (AiR) Program, Bio/Nano Research Team, the Ember 3D Printer Team, Within Medical, Autodesk Software and Evangelists, California Academy of Sciences, Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception, and The Bone Room.

What?

Karle explores what it means to be human through art, design, science and technology. Leveraging the intelligence of human stem cells, she created “Regenerative Reliquary”, a bioprinted scaffold in the shape of a human hand, 3D printed in a biodegradable pegda hydrogel that disintegrates over time. The sculpture is in a bioreactor, so that human Mesenchymal stem cells seeded onto the design will eventually grow into tissue and mineralize into bone along the scaffold.

Why?

This case encourages envisioning both medical and artistic futuring, fostering innovation and education. This may serve as a foundation for further exploration and research opening conversation about transhumanism, synthetic biology, the future of medicine and implants and speculative design.

Results

This piece was the largest 3D printed scaffold for stem cell growth. This bio art established a new field in the art world, expanding opportunities for biomedical applications. This piece was intended as an artwork outside of the body, but the potential healthcare benefit of this approach could be that a patient’s own stem cells could be obtained and used for a personalized bone graft designed to be an exact fit and implanted with low risk of rejection since it is made of a person’s own DNA, avoiding complications of foreign implantation.

Regenerative Reliquary focuses on the dynamic organ and tissue in our bodies that is constantly remodeling and changing shape to adapt to the daily forces placed upon it: bone.

Bone is the structure and foundation that supports our bodies. It seems solid, but bone is very much alive and constantly changing. Bones are a material of life as well as a material that is left after death; historically used to make tools, accessories, art and objects. Throughout history, there has been a spiritual, macabre, and even miraculous agency associated with bones. Bones have been enshrined into reliquaries to serve as memorials, guidance, protection, objects of fear, superstition and devotion.

Referencing the traditional presentation of relics in their reliquaries, this piece is a finely detailed skeleton sculpture encased in a glass bioreactor. Instead of enshrining the inanimate remains left after death as a memorial to the life that was once there, Regenerative Reliquary presents the opposite, depicting the possibility of life from an inanimate object.

Sources

Karle, A., 2016. Regenerative Reliquary. [online] Amykarle.com. Available at: https://www.amykarle.com/project/regenerative-reliquary/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].

An open call for artists from any art form

Keywords: arts to STEM, creative process, arts as a way to communicate

Who?

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the Science Museum of Venice.

Artist: Haseeb Ahmed.

What?

Often working collaboratively Ahmed Haseeb, a research-based artist from the US, now based in Brussels, produces objects, site-specific installations, films, and writes, integrates methodologies from the hard sciences into his art production. His recently completed ‘Wind Egg’ Trilogy blends art and aeronautics, myth and technology, to create new narratives for the present. His work with wind and science began during his Masters from the MIT Program in Art, Culture, and Technology completed in 2010. He is currently an artist in residence at Science Gallery Venice. The focus of his research is the wind, one of the invisible forces which shapes the city of Venice and its maritime history.

Nurturing a game concept is by no means a simple task.

Why?

This case teaches individuals to observe the world by observing artwork and how research can make the process visible by engaging emotions or questions.

Results

About the main results, the artist’s research into the wonders of wind, including the dust-laden Sirocco which blows in from the Sahara, is to lead to the creation of an art piece to be showcased during the Venice Biennale in 2022. The final piece will combine sculpture, architecture, performance and the people of Venice in an artistic work which will also have a digital life.

Earth Water Sky is Science Gallery Venice’s 3-year residency programme for artists interested in the environment and the latest in cutting edge environmental knowledge. Every year there is an open call for artists from any art form – digital arts, painting, sculpture, dance, performance, music, multimedia, video, film, photography, writing, drawing – to apply for a two-month fully funded residency in Venice. The winning artists will work with leading scientists from Ca’ Foscari University and the Veneto region. The main concept of this interesting project is the connection to the history of Earth written in the rocks and sediment in the landscape and which have been used for human culture. From the distinctive white Istrian stone and pink marble used to build the Doges Palace in Venice, to ancient organisms, plants and invertebrates preserved as fossils in sedimentary rock, where rocks are the Earth’s timekeepers, their history is the witness and record of all activities on our Planet.

Sources

CafoscariNEWS. 2020. Haseeb Ahmed is the winner of the 2nd Earth Water Sky residency programme. [online] Available at: https://www.unive.it/pag/16584/?tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=8749&cHash=23c20a779ef3c0a16f98da261233f255 [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Ahmed, H., 2022. Earth Water Sky Residency, Science Gallery Venice. [online] Wind-residency-venice.com. Available at: https://wind-residency-venice.com/ [Accessed 31 March 2022].

Ahmed, H., 2022. www.haseebahmed.com. [online] Haseebahmed.com. Available at: https://haseebahmed.com/ [Accessed 18 March 2022].