newbeginnings

I hope you have a good holiday and a peaceful 2017

thelookofscience

I've been fascinated by the imagery created within the various practical's - the idea of what science looks like has been at the front of my mind. The machinery used to create the look of science is often complex and huge! It appears that there is a correlation between the object observed and the machinery used, the smaller the material, the bigger the machine. I've been working on a series of images that have been informed by the experience of observing the Electron Microscopes and the images they create. Calibration often takes time and the images created are the evidence of existence so using Photoshop I have been thinking about and working with ideas such as alignment, shadow, opposites and presence. Next stage is to work with the moving images created using light and reflective surfaces.

newfilmsonscreens

It was exciting to arrive in the Maxwell Centre yesterday to see the new films on the screens. They look great - for me they give a sense of transition - three have been loaded  - they are 'what inspired me to work with NanoDTC' - an early folded structure - 'my initial work on the project' - a film with sci-fi tendencies' and a starting point for a body of work' - the hands. to see the work in full https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MMQyR2KLns&feature=youtu.be it has Esther Morgan reading Industrian Light and Magic a poem she wrote in response to a conversation we had about me explaining death and the force #starwars to my eldest child.

gloveboxmadness

A fantastic session with the glove box today......for the experiment I had made a number of very specific structural objects in terms of their mechanics but more importantly in terms of the materials used. This is so that they can be operated within the narrow restrictive parameters of the glove box - one of the very specific spaces in which science is undertaken. The gas in a glovebox is pumped through a series of treatment devices which remove solvents, water and oxygen from the gas. Oxygen is removed by passing a hydrogen/nitrogen mixture through copper metal while it is heated: the water formed is passed out of the box with the excess hydrogen and nitrogen so I had to make devices that take this issue on board. A sideways thought - the idea of evidence of activity - documenting  the other - it might be interesting  in some way to look at the trace materials extracted that is sucked off and out of the materials and held in the suspension.

constraintcontrolandorder

I've been looking at the movements used by the demonstrators when explaining various processes and techniques related to science, trying to isolate the specific and particular. They have been the starting point to create a number of new structures, these explore ideas around constraint, control, and order. Also the making and activating of very particular spaces, the specifics of non resonance shapes, particularly pentagons and the generality of the question what does science look like? Meanwhile I appear to of created a very specific structure recognised by chemists as dewar benzene. Apparently the structure has a very particular functionality.

isitfinishedisitart?

A wonderful conversation about art around knowing what to do as there appears to be no right answer..... when asked how do you know that it's right? I had to think about an issue that I take for granted - the assume assumed knowledge of 'finishedness'. The answer It just feels like it felt wrong within the empirical context of science, the question required something more solid - the role of intention and experience and referencing examples of previous works, both your own and others became a part of the equation/conversation. The idea of faith and belief, of working within one's own knowledge bank was discussed as part of both a negative and positive part of the search for a balanced algebraic equation around when something was art. How a well constructed argument can become the fact, how depending who is saying it determines its truthfulness or at the very least it's value - the role of hierarchy and doctrines circled. Of course much of this has its parallel within the science world as I have witnessed within the practical's when anomalies within images have been dismissed - is this the same thing.....maybe?

magicscienceconversation

a day in Cambridge - but before arriving it required some planning - I am beginning to make connections with individuals - the process of collaboration is always interesting - what is possible, what is wanted and what is offered ... I realise that I am in other peoples busy spaces, infiltrating, so am trying to request and connect,  whilst being hyper accommodating and creating minimum fuss. A meeting with a possible 'real use' for my folding structures, developing the idea of touch and connectivity through conductivity and circuits......watch this space. I've made a number of new structures inspired by the hand gestures that I have witnessed. These are made of many 'harmful' materials (dust) so I filmed them within the space outside the clean room, although its proximity to the room still required care. This went well with some excellent images both still and moving. I feel I have created so much data from the session which I now have to look through to determine the next steps. It's always interesting to see what others do with the structures I make and there were a couple of moments of magic - especially explaining a 'science' idea whilst holding a non related structure - a form of meta moving sculpture communication - art/science squared. I also had a meeting to discuss placing my work in a glove box so I had made a number of structures that have non-invasive properties, basically fibre and moisture free. The rubber, metal and plastic pieces refer in colour, texture and in some cases material to the experience of the glove box itself. Obvious I guess as I was working within a limited material palette and parameters but not at the time of making - apart from the oppressive black rubber piece. I've agreed and arranged a time next week to do this - very exciting..... 

beliefisall

a day in the studio - working on a number of strands - the images for the NanoDTC website, the design for the poster/exhibitions, creating a number of short films using light/lazers and then reflecting on the surfaces I created in the last session in the studio and bringing together the various elements through folding.  

surfacesaregood

A busy day in the studio cutting, folding and bonding - really pleased with the surfaces and now looking forward to seeing them manipulated in the hand. The circles are just the beginnings of ideas around location, light and looking. Mainly inspired by the act of looking through various microscopes over the past month

plannedhappenstance

Friday saw a morning of probing at a probe station, a tool within a sealed box within a room. The idea of trying to manipulate and measure with rules and laws to the fore, scraping off polymers to reach gold, to test voltage, checking resistances and marvelling at how the small (the very small, it always is) differences in the thickness of the polymer results in a range of colours that relate to light waves....

I gave a short presentation to share initial thoughts and some ideas I have been working on - a mini 'this is what I've been up to' presentation - I have slotted in youtube links to the moving image work. It was nice to share as everybody has been so thoughtful and open, supporting and enabling. Here is a link   http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/seeing-is-disbelieving-with-links

initialintervention

The first intervention - trying to create a folded piece that starts to explore the idea of restriction, tools, spaces and manipulation. The film shows the progression of the idea, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28lAR2kSjQU&feature=youtu.be it's a combination of intention (creating a structure that looks at the restriction of the glove box) and 'going with' the process of folding (working with the materials and the natural laws of their materiality). I distributed them within the Maxwell Centre shared spaces and gave one each to the 1st years, it is not in its finished state, the material needs to be stiffer with the box like structure made more obvious by delineating its volume. 

youlookingatme?

a day of huge machines looking at tiny things - the Electron microscopes are great photo opportunities. They are colossal science fiction like machines with great names and lots of wires and knobs. They are the stuff of old school 'real' science, enabling you to access information about matter that is so beyond the naked imagination.  Alignment is all with calibration taking time and I was struck by the masculine nature of the language used around the process.

you looking at me?

what are you looking at?

establishing what is wanted determines how you look.

where room stability is crucial

in stillness and silence a planet sized plinth steadies the space

viewing an energy filter beam star like images

a focused probe

the language of imaging in a light field talk of high angles under a dark field is oddly masculine

rough pumping the turbo, gun tilt adjustment, a chamber core of negatives, recovering a vacuum, contrast at the expense of resolution, optimum conditioning for imaging, beam damage and sample drift.

going back to real space there is awe

but
a

fear of damaging the sample by observing it.

passingiton

what started out today as a mistake became a fascinating experience. turning up a week early for a practical meant that I was obviously in the wrong place - but I decided to take part in the same practical as Wednesday - this time with a different group of students and a different demonstrator. The idea of science craft and nano folklaw is now firmly in my mind - very specific tasks were undertaken in a completely different way - the end results were the same but the particular way in which to undergo this activity will now be practiced and passed on - thus the individual is enabled and celebrated, their presence  becomes embedded within the craft. This idea of our interconnectedness with each other through small incremental exchanges is a reminder of my own relationship with the students I encounter or indeed the concept of legacy beyond physical presence. I often find myself reflecting on an action I have been taught or enacting a process that is 'second nature' but sometimes I am unable to recall the moment of initial learning and the names and faces are a distant hazy memory but this seems okay because it feels as if they are still there moving my hands through time. 

gloveboxfetish

I never cease to be amazed during my time at NanoDTC - the generosity of spirit I encountered today was breathtaking - to start....clean room madness and yes I got to have a go wearing the gloves in the box - it was so difficult to manipulate the samples - I have seen and engaged in the tasks that are repetitive pippet work and spin coating before but actually doing it through 3 layers of gloves within a nitrogen pressured space whilst just sweating was another experience. More than ever I want to try and manipulate my structures within this space. There were some excellent 'minimal' structures created to enable currents to flow through which will go on to inform the shapes of the devices I want to make. The work around the hand gestures continues and I made many short videos that I will work on later. It's obvious but each person's personality comes through the movement as well as the content of the information conveyed. The afternoon was the NanoDTC showcase - 30 presentations of individuals who would like to become associates. There were some familiar faces in the audience from the Autumn School which felt like I had some form of extended connection. It was fascinating watching these bite sized moments of humanity, again incredibly professional and worthy (in a good way). But - do we judge the science or the person? What will be the best fit? I enjoyed their general commitment to making the world a 'better' place and reflected on the practical aspects of that. There were some good attempts and actual examples of a commitment to communicating science to a wider community and this expansion of knowledge is something to consider both here but also to discuss later. They will also have to be a conduit between the wide range of students but there is a desire on most people's part to engage with others. When you are in the presence of a good presentation it actually lifts you, even though the full content isn't fully understood. Presentations of knowledge transfer next - some examples of existing projects and some that wish to be considered. Again the range of applications is vast and worthy. I am left thinking about a comment in an earlier practical about how to determine your PHD direction - the idea of deciding to explore a reproducible/replicable process and that of a more 'one off' theoretical process that might be derived from one afternoon in the lab and the data collected in that session. There is so no right answer. 

writingnanofolklaw

the cleaning of surfaces that are already super smooth - ultra smooth - the concept of a master copy - the calibration of material to specific frequencies - using heat and light to print and more cleaning, always cleaning - the stripping of surfaces of unwanted unknown information in preparation of the addition of the known. Everything is considered in respect to something else.

Today I have been thinking about extending the idea of a nanocraft into a nanofolk-law - the act of passing on stories - every profession has its insular language - assumed knowledge - known known's but when standing inside another world which is outside one 's own the realisation of this is heightened - the series of practical's are a rich time where students are exposed to the creation of words and phrases that have in themselves been passed on -  knowledge is built but where did it come from originally? Today I was aware of the mass of chemistry - there was a 'wall of chemistry talk' - it was wonderfully impenetrable and a joy to watch/listen to. This transmission, this transfer of knowledge is observed in the demonstrators who run the practical's, their urgent, constant need to find ways to communicate the ideas they are working with. The hand gestures today were fascinating within the clean rooms of Scalable Nanofabrication, Nanoimprint. In electro deposition the concept of self limiting - an idea that a material 'knows' when to stop - the actions of a material are embedded within it and it can react no more or/and these reactions can be constructed and defined in accordance with the wishes of the maker - calibration and optimisation. As a child I have a dim memory of electroplating a copper penny with 'something' all with material my Dad 'borrowed' from work! but today there was something alchemic in the dark room as the mundane was tarnished with gold. 

purgingtheatmosphere

graphene growth and transfer - the clean room really is a space of possibilities - a place for the performance of science - its all about the surface - creating new ones and using old ones with extraordinary properties - slippage - nonstickness - stretchiness - tension - relaxing metals at high temperatures - inert gas as spacer - the slippage of words, the idea that atoms have choice of where to go and always framing the science into the 'real' world. enjoying watching the craft of nanoscience, it's hands-on-ness. thinking about the scale of the graphs when monitoring and presenting evidence and how it can alter perception.

optimisingspace

Friday's practical - gas absorption - appeared to involve very expensive equipment that was very fragile. Apart from the obvious (the ability through building metal-organic frameworks to calculate the surface area of solid matter at a very small level) my lack of ability to engage in what was happening within the technical and expensive grey boxes meant that I started to almost start to observe from another part of my brain - I watched the demonstrator 'explain' some of the overarching concepts, processes and outcomes with hand gestures - I became mesmerised by this and an idea started to manifest itself - a thought .... would it be possible to use the hand gestures that explain scientific theories as a way or system to manipulate or handle the objects I am going to make?

This would enable me to explore the relationship between a thought, a gesture and the tools used for thinking.

The rigorous nature of optimisation is compelling - the complex relationship between the optimised moment and the notion of the beautiful and perfect - the unsaid notions of beauty and perfection - what makes something perfect? - Is there an excel spreadsheet somewhere containing the formula's that I can use to calculate this? like the use of BET isotherm to determine the surface area of a solid?

working within stability - the spaces that are created to work in have super restrictions. The limitations are important to enable the focus to be on material not on the space - this space is often noisy and needs to be made to seem quieter.

the specific methodologies around particular science activities at this level appears to be highly complex - just the idea of how the stages in the process were developed - from the mixing of a particular metal and linker to the machinery created to monitor seems both incredibly focused and random (I understand that this latter feeling is due to my lack of knowledge). the number of options seem limitless and possibilities are afforded by  the level of knowledge of material properties - this is the key.

and afterwards.....

searching for the right answer which appears to be found within balance - the creation of beautiful arcs from the data by focused reduction and data manipulating/handling.

and then again words and their meanings became filtered - my lack of understanding meant that their meanings were translated, changed enabling a reread/rethought. 

theplaysthething

thinking about the language of science especially about the microscope - I love that the area where specimens are placed to observe is called the stage - there are many parallels around the spaces created for both science and art to be acted out and observed - the white space of the white cube feels very similar to the controlled spaces created to make science in. here are some more specimens from that place.  

chemicallogicofthemicrobialcommunity

todays practical was confocal microscopy - looking at the microbial community - the dynamics of species and their interrelationships - wow - my notes boil down to the idea of chemical logic - there is a knowledge that a material has a functionality that at some level is understood - this functionality is used or exploited to explore the characteristics of that material or another material at a deeper (smaller) level - knowledge is used to make more knowledge, a form of leverage. I was struck by the mechanical nature of nature of the natural world.

seen under the microscope the images were really physical, realisable in the mind as what Science looks like - this was supported initially when creating the sample to observe by the use of glass wear, filters and the pipette. I spent a lot of the time in my mind translating the conversation into my world of cameras, focal length and aperture. The idea of digital and optical focus, weighing up the various tools to decide how to observe and measure - size versus detail. When using the 3D software to almost freeze the material in time it was like diving through space - as ever the idea of the gaps - the spaces in-between became interesting and that at the smallest level it always looks like the largest - space and the universe.  

I came away with the extraordinary idea that one could extrapolate the symbiotic activity of algae and bacteria towards a discussion around and within social science. The behaviour of microbial ecology could be used as models for human systems of activity - government, education, the organisation of any activity simple or complex -  the art of logistics........

pipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipet

Wednesday's practical......it's a real thing....DNA origami. It is quite possibly the most exciting thing ever! where to start - you build a structure within a software program and then after bringing together the material (DNA, staples, salts etc) mixing, filtering and pipetting (lots of pipetting) - the material appears to 'slot into' or 'follow' the system you have set up because of the inherent functionality or quality of base pairs bonding - I think I might understand self assembly! there is a lot of measuring and cleaning involved and again you don't actually appear to look at the thing - you look at material which informs you of the location of thing. I love this idea of evidence of activity. Onto an idea....... first 'find out' the DNA sequence of a person and then create a structure through DNA folding that in some way represents or symbolises that person - it could be conceived as a form of portraiture.

and 2 lectures with 2 very different approaches to the delivery of information; the most relentlessly brutal informationally intense PowerPoint ever and a whiteboard of equations. 1 - the theory behind AFM -  due to a previous practical I was actually able to grasp what was occurring - surface morphology, issues around calibration, the problems associated with the tip bluntness, decisions around pixel density, the creation of clarity through both the choice of tools with which to examine specimens and image manipulation. 2 - bands and band engineering appeared to be about determining what something (metal, semiconductors and insulators) was dependant on its atomic makeup (there was a lot of maths - I think it was maths). That was about the level of my understanding  but the language used was quite beautiful and as ever when in the room it feels like an experience or world beyond the actual subject or space is being describing. It reminds me of a poetry reading, the language's meaning slips between the liminal boundaries of specific states, not quite metaphor but defiantly transitional .  

I am asked to conceive of something dimensionless

looking for an electron to achieve balance      but         low energy states are filled

balancing always balancing                            but         systems are governed by symmetry

making and filling gaps                                 but         looking for balance  

representing electrons in a solid                       but         suspending is restricted

there are always empty states above full ones   and         insulators restricting jumping      

the electron could be anywhere                       and        everywhere

the wave travelling moving                       and        unimpeded

we are converging on one answer

                                                                              is this possible?