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 

testingtestingandthinking

Spent most of today in Cambridge measuring and testing out work in the spaces that I'm attempting to display work in. I could not of done this without the support and positive energy of a number of individuals who have got involved in this project - everybody is so positive and helpful - I genuinely think that it's going to look splendid.  From the austere blank corridors around the microscopy labs in the materials science and metallurgy building to the Maxwell museum cases via the coffee areas of the Maxwell Centre and modern glass cases in the Cavendish.  The work covers a range of activities and I have been trying to use the opportunity of exhibiting to extend their usefulness/meaning.

don'ttouch

The idea that we don't actually touch anything, that we have to think about what we mean by touch has been in my head today. One of the main ideas I have encountered within the residency is that at a nano level our world is concerned with, in fact defined by forces. If we think about making sense of the world in this way, of defining our relationship between things within the context of forces it is mind altering. The 'space between', the 'negative space' is something that I have been working with but my thinking has been concerned with trying to map the space within an articulated object which can be changed. I've been considering this concept at a smaller structural level - this video is really helpful to gain an understanding of close packed structures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsnNbuqxGTk I've been thinking about this idea within the context of electron microscopy and in turn I have been making links with the idea of the 'empty space' between atoms within material. Although not actually empty - as it appears to be about flow, the constant exchange of forces, plasmonics.  Which links back to the initial structures I've made - could the functionality of the structures, with their specific movements, determined by their structure, be a way of looking at the mapping of this flow?

e m p t y s p a c e i s r e v e a l e d

The latest series of pieces explore and in some way expose the 'empty space' that is revealed. After being poured and set plaster is taken out from the cardboard mould, often too early as I am in too much of a hurry to see the results. Next the initial wax form is removed from the plaster, thus the space (wax) within the space (plaster), sitting within the initial space (cardboard) is revealed.  

startingpointstothinking

There are endless starting points for lines of enquiry, almost to the point of becoming overwhelming. Using the lab based experimental science practice I have been exposed to as a starting point I have created a number of experiments which have manifest themselves within an array of outcomes - films, objects and prints. The flow diagram explains some of the thinking and lays out the order of activity.

From observing the hand movements within the lab when explaining scientific processes I had developed a number of articulated structures that were to be manipulated in the hand.

Electron microscopy sets out to map surfaces by 'firing' matter at the material they are investigating, the evidence of this activity is mapped. Extrapolating the space between surface and probe provides data to make sense of the surface.

I am currently following a line of enquiry that looks at this space between, making physical something that cannot be seen by casting the negative space of the folding structures that explored the hand gestures, fixing a moment in time.

I have developed the articulated structures into static 3D forms by fixing the shapes, transforming the nets into boxes and casting their internal spaces. I have been looking at casting the space around the negative forms so that the 'empty space' is revealed.

theabsenceofsomethingdoesnotmeanthereisnothing

A day at Laurence Edwards studio last week casting empty space - 

the absence of something does not mean that there is nothing.  The current question is to think about what effect this space or nothingness has on the material one is looking at. I continue to be fascinated by the idea of the forces around and within us that we are unable to see, feel or most of the time envisage. This is both a physical idea and a psychological concept. How theoretical and philosophical thinking is underpinned by science is something I hadn't fully comprehended or if I did I would of being unable to articulate this thought.

There is a continuous sense of observing one element of an issue only to miss another important aspect and of course I would need to define the role and factors that determine important to continue this conversation. The defining of thoughts and intentions have become both rigorous and all expansive simultaneously. 

listening to the podcast invisibilia - I came across work undertaken by Professor Adam Galinsky including his thoughts on enclothed cognition - Do clothes affect how people think and behave? My earlier thoughts about the lab and the items worn within came back to me. These led to the creation of capes and the question - Could an improvement in thinking/creativity take place if Art Capes were worn? http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103112000200 there might actually be some science supporting this thought/feeling, although the painter = nuts hypothesis is a little alarming!

3Dspacesrealandimagined

The films on the screens in the Maxwell Centre look fantastic, it's great to have a physical space to put them and be able to watch reactions as people walk past. Meanwhile I'm slowly gathering people to work with - the project is extending into 3D printing, we are looking at creating a series of twisted spaces that are almost unimaginable without 3D software. I've been working with Google Sketch up and I love the idea that the structures in the soft-wear both exist and don't, or more correctly they exist in two states simultaneously. This visualisation of imagined spaces links neatly with the idea of the void and my attempts to cast spaces that one can't see. As ever what is wonderful about the shared spaces in The Maxwell is that somebody inevitably walks past and a dialogue is struck up, this really is how learning takes place. Today I was informed that I'm working on things called antiprisms - who knew  - wonderful, this led to researching and developing new structures with a richer understanding as a result. Another conversation led to thoughts about crystallography, notions of symmetry and pattern making through convergent beam diffraction. The idea that the categorisation of objects taking place through observable functionality can lead to connecting with textile design is something I didn't start the day with.  Next week I have organised to put some of the 3D work in cabinets, this will, in my mind replicate the effect of the clean rooms, placing objects within defined spaces for the purposes of observing. 

fillingspace

I spent the afternoon yesterday at the studio of sculptor Laurence Edwards casting negative space - it's a great place to think and time there allowed me the opportunity to play with 'traditional' materials. Working with the idea of unseen spaces I've been casting the volume within the folded structures - transforming the folded flexible structures into fixed vessels has made me rethink the idea of book as container of knowledge. I have created a number of forms that I have poured ideas into but it's rigidity and lack of physical transformation is something that I'm working with. Today is to be all about catching up, following up and building connections. 

voidwork

I've been spending time reflecting on, taking a closer look and rethinking the moulds as work in themselves - a sort of proto-potential space I'm thinking about how in the mind the void is 'completed' or filled.

waxthespacebetweenwaximagery

The day has been concerned with thinking about and working with the idea of the look of science - working on imagery of the wax models, the physical space between - building on the knowledge gained in the AFM and microscopy workshops to create a mass of imagery. 

theideaofnegativespace

I have been thinking about the stuff that we don't think about..... the spaces between things.....the idea of negative space....the space of reading.....the idea of the void.....the question of volume. All this thinking has manifest itself in me creating a range of structures, making them into vessels which also made them static, taking them into my studio and casting in wax the spaces within the folded structures. The ideas, both conceptual and practical are embedded within the pieces in a kind of venn diagram mash up. Working over the day I have managed to take half of them out of the moulds and the other pieces are still cooling.   

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

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.