Drawing from Arthur Miller’s book, Einstein and Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty that Causes Havoc we will look at the connections between cubism and relativity. If, as we have discussed throughout the course, literature gives us a lens for societal understandings of science, today’s discussion will show that art can do the same.
In our discussion, we will look at the artwork of Chesley Bonestell, Tom Sachs, Rebecca Kamen, and others to see how culture and science have continued their dialogue from the 1970s to today.
Homework
- Go out onto the web and see if you can find another example of scientific art. Post the link and a short description in the comments.
- Go through the links provided by the rest of the class, pick one of the artistic works as your favorite, and reply to that comment saying why you liked the link art.
History of Science Since Newton 
This is a link to a display of actual human body art. “Body World” as it is called is a display gallery of bodies that have gone through plastination, which you will read about in the article. It is cool to me because they use it as educational (I’m guessing) as well as showing the human body as a piece of art.
This reminded me of the Museum of Osteology in OKC. (http://www.museumofosteology.org/) I believe I saw a sign stating how the owner plans to donate himself to be displayed. However, I assume that it would be just his skeleton.
This is quite gruesome but really cool at the same time. I’d like to see this exhibit sometime
This was one that I found most interesting cause I have actually been to the bodies exhibit when it was in Dallas, TX. It was unlike anything i had ever seen before. Kinda creepy but very cool
http://www.med.upenn.edu/vdresearch/ArtInScienceCompetition.shtml
This is a picture of parasitic cells in the skin of a rainbow trout. The “mucosal immunoglobulin” which is depicted in green is shown surrounding the virus. This form of art is known as “Histology Art”. Histology is the microscopic study of cells; usually performed by sectioning and staining. As you can see in the picture, it appears to be the face of a typical alien creature. It is also notable, as stated in the caption, that this was the first discovery of a mucosal immunoglobulin present in this type of fish.
Here’s a link to an artistic rendition of the Orion Nebula. I’ve always loved pictures of galaxies and nebulas, and this artistic depiction of one is pretty cool looking.
http://www.science-art.com/image/?id=6125&pagename=Orion_Nebula#.U6iX7_ldUZw
This picture is absolutely amazing. I too love looking at galaxies and nebulae and thinking of the endless possibilities. Quite amazing to me to think that an artist could even paint such an intricate picture.
http://www.microbialart.com/galleries/niall-hamilton/
This link is to the website microbial art.com . As the name implies, some artists have been using petri dishes and agars to create works of art by cultivating colonies of bacteria. Some artist grow bacteria that naturally takes on a distinct color while others take advantage of bioluminescence to create their works. The link will take you to the work of Niall Hamilton however there are several other galleries on the website.
It’s interesting to see how they can make the bacteria grow into different shapes to form art. (Compared to my post where they basically just stained certain cells to achieve what they wanted to portray)
I found this post the most interesting especially after just having Micro Bio lab last semester. I think is it so neat how they can specifically grow bacteria in make intricate designs.
I agree with dollyjpatel, I took micro last semester as well and the thought never crossed my mind that it could be used as an art form. I don’t think I would be putting them all around my house ever but it is still very interesting.
This is so awesome. I think that artwork that facilitates biology and nature into it is so cool. This stuff has got a really crazy twist though.
I think these pictures are really cool because of the variety of colors and shapes bacteria can be manipulated to grow in.
http://chanl.unc.edu/scientific-art/
This is a link to a scientific art competition held at the University of North Carolina. My favorite piece is the 2014 second place winner titled “Snowflake Robe”. I like this particular picture because it looks like the ice that would crystallize on a window, but it is actually pictured using an electron microscope.
“Ocean Stories” is an exhibit featuring art work form the collaboration of artist and ocean scientists.
http://oceans.mit.edu/featured-stories/sparks-fly-art-science-collide-ocean-stories-review
I think that galaxy artwork is a good example of science’s influence on our cultural heritage. I think that the mysterious cosmos is popular in art because art glorifies thinking outside of the box.http://www.redbubble.com/people/motionage/works/9865252-space-galaxy-art
Galaxy’s are fun because they are beautiful objects but at the same time not well understood. There is a lot of mystery to them.
I’m more into music. If you’ve ever heard A Capella Science is kind of fun.
http://www.microbialart.com/galleries/niall-hamilton/
This website show pictures of fungal and bacterial cultures grown specifically to resemble certain things such as plants and animals.