Showing posts with label Maxwell Centre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maxwell Centre. Show all posts
Friday, 18 August 2017
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
whatdoessciencelooklike?exhibited
A new exhibition of work created as part
of the residency - there are a number of images hanging in the shared area on
level 3 of the Maxwell Centre. The images have been made during a
residency within NanoTechDTC and start to explore a number of issues; the
question of what science looks like, how scientific concepts and lab processes
are communicated through subconscious hand gestures whilst in the lab, and
mapping the seemingly disregarded by making the unseen visible. The process of
working within the labs and engaging with research students has generated a
body of new artwork which has been informed by the engagement with
nanotechnology. A series of ongoing interventions within the space has generated
discussion, presented new possibilities and ways of thinking. The project has
recognised similarities, explored possible confluence and developed connections
by researching and deconstructing the physical and theoretical concerns of
scientists working in the nanotechnology field within the framework of a fine
artist practice.
When
working within science one is confronted by the phenomena that is the
laboratory, it is a completely controlled, managed environment. Every aspect
including light levels, moisture content and dust particulates is monitored. Entering
through an air shower, wearing head to toe specialist clothes one becomes
conscious of one's body; every action is considered and in some way constricted.
But the mind is free to wander. Within the laboratory there is the glove box, we
have all encountered them in the media. They reference fear and science in the
same sentence. Arms are forced into rubber gloves within a sealed box that enables
the operator to work with samples. The
space attempts to be a 'non space' that is neutral and repeatable, in which the
controlled factors enable the focus of activity to be on the samples, the
actual science worked on.
The
artist studio is traditionally a space of making and the gallery of displaying
conclusions, so the laboratory/gallery correlation is not an exact match, but I
started to think about the parallels that these spaces have.
The white box of the gallery is a physical and conceptual
space that attempts to enable viewers to see art without restrictions or
connections. It's function is to neutralise the materiality of the space, to enable
the focus to be on the work, to place art at the centre. For outsiders entering
a gallery it must be a similar experience to gallery goers entering a
laboratory. The rituals seem obscure and indecipherable and the space
unfamiliar, what do you do in here? How do you perform? Is there a right way to
do this?
Tuesday, 6 June 2017
sprayingelectrons
a morning of printing more images that explore projections
- trying to make the two colours work together is a challenge alongside looking
at some more complex tessellation and symmetrical patterns. The poster looks
good as well as explaining some of the ideas behind the work. Combining art and
science concepts is a challenge but talking about the work from two places
enables a third to emerge.
text for poster with clarity from Duncan
unfolding thinking
As part of a residency with the Nano Doctorial Training
Centre I have been exploring concepts of structure in materials down to the
atomic scale and creating artwork inspired by the practicalities of revealing
nanoscale structure using electron microscopy.
I encountered the idea of using the scattering electrons to
obtain evidence of nanoscale structure in a material within an introductory
practical held for first year NanoDTC students looking at the interpretation of
electron diffraction patterns and
images, acquired using a transmission electron microscope.
Initially, I was interested in the use of symmetry within crystallography
as a tool for defining, for creating a taxonomy for atomic structure. But the
mapping of a structure to a measurable signal, a diffraction pattern or image, captured
my interest with the idea that physical laws provide a route to determine an
unknown structure by obtaining evidence of its existence in these signals.
It is a system which attempts to reveal an unknown from a series
of knowns. I have taken this idea and turned it on its head by using a known to
make unknowns.
During the residency, I have developed a
series of articulated handheld hinged structures. These are derived from what I
call 'laboratory choreography'. Whilst attending practical demonstrations I had the sensation of
my mind slightly drifting as yet another truly extraordinary piece of
information was imparted but which I was unable to fully comprehend. In
an attempt to grasp an understanding I started to watch the hands of the
demonstrator, there was an urgency as they used every facility they had to
communicate. This space of not knowing appeared to enable a thought, to
explore how whilst in the lab scientific concepts and lab processes are
communicated through subconscious hand gestures.
I have been mapping the hand gestures within the lab that are
created whilst explaining scientific processes and creating structures that
represented these movements. These structures represent the knowns, something
tangible that I grasped as an entry to understanding.
With spray paint standing in for electrons I have used these
known forms as a masking tool to make fragmented images that are now unknown
but have a sense of having to be remade or reconstructed in the mind. This is
the essence of the challenge addressed in tomographic reconstruction where a 3D
object is remade from a series of 2D images or projections, the ambiguity in
the structure that produces each individual projection creating a “projection
problem”.
I see these images and the process I have
created as an entry point into understanding the challenges in relating a
structure to the signal created by probing it and how translation can be used
to make the invisible visible and the complex understandable.
Tuesday, 16 May 2017
projectionofideas
I've spent the day in the studio
'printing' the work for corridors around the rooms that house the microscopy
labs in the materials science and metallurgy
building on the West Cambridge site - looking good
Monday, 15 May 2017
evidenceofthinking
Here
are some of the equations from the experimental experiment workshop last week
and a link to the process https://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/end-equations
Saturday, 29 April 2017
learningthehardway
What is it to learn?
I had this idea that the
articulated structures I had created in response to the lab choreography if
miniaturised to a nano scale could in some way inform an understanding of the
movement of electrons around atoms, thus bringing knowledge to ideas around dark
matter and the gaps between things. The wonderful thing about this job is that
I don't mind not knowing in fact I think I revel in it and when realising that
things I have conceived of aren't even possible ideas or that my language is
not just wrong but the hypothesis underpinning my idea/revelation isn't even a
thing in the first place. The conversations that ensue are a joy. This has been
my day today.
I have been gently engaging
with concepts which appear to be central to quantum physics. Who knew. I love
the idea, as was pointed out to me, that my pieces are classical structures and
just reducing them in scale does not get you to quantum scale as there is no
translatable or transactional model. Its as if everything one knew is untrue
and the basic building blocks are not what you thought. I have on my reading
list the Heisenberg Principle, The Casimr effect, the concept of zero point
energy.
It was interesting to realise
that the structures can be used to explore a visualisation of an energy metastable state. This was understood through my understanding of kinetic and
potential energy from GCSE physics, possibly the only concept I ever understood
- this was by the throwing of a ball in the air
I have put forward four proposals which today have been shaped with a rigour I hope that I bring to my
own students practice. Meaning has been brought into the equation and a clarity
of intention that was not their previously is now embedded within the work and
the hang..
The first is to show work
within a huge glass cabinet - this work will be the mainly static objects which
examine the idea of negative space and the space objects inhabit internally,
they are an attempt
to halt time. These objects will be accompanied by large scale
printed photographic images of laboratories where the ideas were conceived and
stills of hands working the objects. The second idea is to present a form of
visual diary using material that I have amassed within the drawers of The
Maxwell Laboratory. The work would consist of notes, initial drawings and laser
cut pieces that informed the thinking behind or were the tools for the films
created during the residency. They would act as a form of cabinet of curiosity,
the piece would provide a very physical experience of revelation as the work
would be revealing only when the audience engages with the act of intrigue by
pulling open a drawer. (really pleased with that).
I am going to hang large-scale images from my archive of the whole process within the shared spaces in the Maxwell and some form of performance piece engaging with the projection issue I have been working with.
I
have also managed to negotiate to show a suite of 'prints' informed by
crystallography within the corridors of the Department of Materials Science and
Metallurgy building. Met with Duncan and came away with a long list of starting
points for more research, yes more of them including quasicrystals and mode coupling but also a richer and deeper
knowledge of Penrose tiling and its relationship to the golden section
alongside the realisation that through the structures I have been making I have
been creating a visualisation of a energy metastable state - who knew but if I think about it - it's all about potential and kinetic energy - forces. You cannot measure a thing you measure the forces on it. The gaps between things determine what they are.
Rounded
the day off with more filming within the Museum - filming Maxwell having
Maxwell projected onto him Meta Maxwell or Maxwell squared....
The day was rounded off with a really nice encounter with a friendly student face from NanoDTC who was positive and encouraging of the project - a great day in Cambridge.
Sunday, 12 February 2017
gloveboxinstructions
the latest film on display at the Maxwell - it's an extensive compilation
of some of the structural bookworks manipulated within a glove box with some instructions/statements that I have collected so far overlaid. The restrictions designed into
the physical pieces are exacerbated by working with them in the very controlled space, especially wearing the heavy duty gloves. The film was created with a view to it being a 'background' within the space, I like the idea that users of the space will glimpse a moment or caption over an extended period.
Friday, 10 February 2017
exhibitingevidence
An excellent day at The Maxwell - it was nice to catch up with some of
the 1st years and share some of the work I've been making and explain their
connection to it. Their ideas and knowledge has fuelled a lot of the thinking
behind the work. I also put up a display of some recent pieces within vitrines and
posted new films on the screen. The
afternoon saw a poster session, catching up with some familiar, friendly faces
from Croatia and in some cases managing to support directly their designs. I've
been thinking that this is something that I could offer in my role here - some
form of graphic-design-for-science sessions, examining design fundamentals and
looking at the maths behind why some things just 'work'.
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
electronmanipulationunfoldingthinking
a series of films - imaging and the image of science is at the heart of this piece, struck by the imagery created with the electron microscope and Atomic Force Microscopy I created a number of short films and still images which in themselves documented a number of bookworks that were made in response to hand movements and gestures within the lab. The films were treated to 'mimic' the effect of electron imagery.
the 2 panel films below are a series of works that look at how science concepts are communicated through subconscious hand gestures in the lab which are juxtaposed with objects made in response to the initial movements. The duality creates a dialogue between documentation of the lab, a response between the static and the moving.
.
2 panel blue folded object - unfoldingthinking
2 panel blue triangle object - unfoldingthinking
2 panel over and under - unfoldingthinking
2 panels dark circle lots - unfoldingthinking
2 panels diff photo layers - unfoldingthinking
this film continues to explore how science concepts are communicated through subconscious hand gestures in the lab. The initial documentation of hand gestures is presented next to a film of a bookwork which has itself been taken back to the clean room. The screen duality creates a dialogue between documentation of the lab, and the object made in response.
room clean actions in dialogue with object - unfoldingthinking
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