Changing Perspectives - you will want to come to this!

The University of Bristol’s exciting series of art-science activities – Changing Perspectives – is fast-approaching.  With free exhibitions, talks, workshops and a family-friendly day of circus-inspired science, there is something for everyone...

More information and a full list of events is available at bristol.ac.uk/changingperspectives

Saturday 19 March 10 am – 5 pm
Experience Changing Perspectives
Watch aerial circus performers, learn how they accomplish their extraordinary feats and discover how your body works with TV presenter Alice Roberts.  Take part in body painting and talk to researchers from the University of Bristol about cutting edge research – in anatomy and physiology, neuroscience, robotics and biomechanics – happening in your city.
Venue Circomedia, Portland Square, Bristol BS2 8SJ

Saturday 26 March – Saturday 30 April 2011
Monday – Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
Changing Perspectives exhibition at the Grant Bradley Gallery
A vibrant exhibition of art inspired by the life sciences and medicine, including medical student and patient reflections, research images as art, science-inspired fiction, and chances for you to share your perspectives on the body.
Venue Grant Bradley Gallery, 1 St Peter’s Court, Bedminster Parade, BS3 4AQ

Friday 1 April – Saturday 30 April 2011
Monday – Friday 10 am – 6 pm; Saturday – Sunday 10 am – 5 pm
Changing Perspectives exhibition at the Bristol Gallery
How do we visualise and express things we can’t see?  Explore the complex worlds of mathematics, physics, chemistry and physical geography through a stunning range of sculpture, drawings, film and animation, and photography.
Venue Bristol Gallery, Millennium Promenade, Harbourside, BS1 5TY

Talks and events:

Tuesday 29 March 2011, 6pm
Out of Our Heads: where art meets medicine
http://www.bris.ac.uk/public-engagement/events/2011/31.html

Monday 4 April 2011, 4 pm
The 100-year hunt for Red Sprites
http://www.bris.ac.uk/public-engagement/events/2011/39.html

Tuesday 5 April 2011, 6 pm
Fragility
http://www.bris.ac.uk/public-engagement/events/2011/35.html

Thursday 7 April 2011, 6 pm
Inspired Engineering
http://www.bris.ac.uk/public-engagement/events/2011/32.html

Tuesday 12 April 2011, 6 pm
Manipulating biologies: convergences and divergences of bioart and biosciences
http://www.bris.ac.uk/public-engagement/events/2011/40.html

Tuesday 19 April 2011, 6 pm
Science-inspired fiction - Open Mic Night
http://www.bris.ac.uk/public-engagement/events/2011/36.html

Changing Perspectives is a series of free public exhibitions, talks, workshops and performances that explores the fascinating connections between art and science.  We’ll be seeing what happens when fiction meets cell biology, when chaotic systems meet crochet and when medicine meets art.  We invite you to participate and share your perspective with academics, students and artists.  

More information and a full list of events is available at bristol.ac.uk/changingperspectives

Download the flier here (PDF, 1.1MB), and follow us on Twitter for new, provocative perspectives throughout March and April – CPE_Bristol #chngpersp

"Roche Continents: Arts and Science" - a PhD student's experience

I am very lucky in that I landed in a lab that already has a lot of interest in arts+science, primarily through pHd student Becky Jones, who organises the annual Art of Science contest in the Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Science. The competition calls for researchers to submit images from their work that they think have artistic merit, and this year it has widened applications to include postgraduates and staff as well as PhDs.

Becky recently flew to Salzburg to take part in the "Roche Continents: Arts and Science" program which, says Roche, "has been created for students and post-docs aged 20 to 29 from across Europe. Through “Roche Continents” you can experience performances of contemporary music and try to uncover the common ground of creativity in the arts and science." I asked Becky to tell me a bit about the week:

Tania. What made you apply for this workshop? What did you think you might get out of it?

Becky: I wanted to experience a) the working of a pharmaceutical company b) the world of opera c) the fusion of fantastic arts brains with science ones, all things I had no real knowledge of, but a great intrigue and even a slight fear of. I also liked the mystery that there was so little said about what the week would entail and what to expect, so it was blind, exciting. Jetting off to Austria, all expenses paid, to shmooze with artists, it seemed very mysterious and glamorous and a fantastic contrast to the life I was leading as a PhD student

T. What was your first impression when you arrived?

B: There was a kind of dead awkward opulence when I first arrived at the Tourism school in Salzburg for Roche Continents. The first thing I noticed was a small man with a video camera on a tripod filming our arrival, I felt slightly like royalty but also slightly uneasy as to what to expect from this week and the level of intrusion and voyeurism. I quickly got the impression we were there to be worked into a mold for a good Roche employee, whilst also being lured to possible job opportunity by the lavish reception, food, wine, compliments to a credentials etc. But then they were also incredibly generous and thoughtful - the lady organising saw I had a sore throat and gave me a set of throat sweets (Roche brand of course) and told me to look after myself. She had learned all our names and faces by heart (also slightly odd and big brother), but seemed to really care how we were are would do anything for you. I think the awkwardness in hindsight of the proceedings is possibly an Austrian/Swiss thing, the manner is stand-offish but polite and efficient, and as I eased into their way of doing things I felt a lot more comfortable.

T. What was the thing that most surprised you about the whole week?

B: The speed at which everyone relaxed around each other and worked together. After the first day I already felt like I had a group of close friends. There was also a lot of freedom to create whatever you liked during the final project we were set, this made me feel like being back in school which a set of felt pens and paper in hand. Was very open to debate and criticism of Roche and the pharma industry in general. That's something I expected to be shot down, but they were very open and honest about their role in the world for good and bad.

T: What kinds of people were doing the course and what did they seem to
enjoy about it?

B: There were composers, musicologists, fine/interactive arts students, a women who sang opera in The Hague, but the majority were organic chemists, useful for synthesising drugs, of course. There were a few like me who were from a more biological background but we were in the minority among scientists. Everyone who came saw it as an amazing opportunity, many of the artists not quite knowing why Roche wanted to pay for them to come (although it became clear that although there were no jobs on the horizon for them - they could mingle with possible future investors in their concert/exhibits/galleries). The chemists were also there to scout for future jobs and be scouted. I was just there to take it all in.

T. What is the first thing you wanted to tell someone about it when you
got back?

B: "Wow what an amazing time", amazing people, amazing place, amazing hospitality, so many operas, but really great to see them and learn about the process behind the composition. The cost was the main thing I talked about, the investment they had made in us (200 euro opera tickets etc). I also felt very relaxed and confident and had a new lease of life to attack my PhD work.


T. Do you think it has affected the way you do science or the way you see
your scientific future?

B: Yes I am a lot more proud of what I do, but also more certain that the motives that drive brilliant scientists are not what drive me. Those drivers are not learned but innate and so I realise as much a I understand and love my science, it isn't my way of thinking and isn't my passion in the same way that I observed in others on the workshop. It also made me realize you don't have to dedicate yourself to one thing, as I met a girl who did a joint undergraduate course in chemistry whilst studying concert level flute and becoming a professional musician. It has inspired me to go live a life that suits me, that may not be corporate but that will allow me to be passionate about all the things I used to be when I was a child. I saw people there who just wanted a great job with great pay, I saw people who would never jeopardize their integrity or do something they didn't want to be doing. It made me realise, probably against their objectives, that I am probably not cut out to be a research scientist in a pharma company but was very inspired to think about different ways to be creative and inspired by my work.

Thank you, Becky, I have no doubt that you will be!

There's Science in My Fiction... And Poetry

I'm running this event tomorrow night at the British Science Festival in Birmingham - come along if you're in the area! It's free... no need to book.

There's Science in My Fiction... And Poetry

 7-10pm, Wed 15th Sept, The Old Joint Stock Function Room

"What if..?" ask both scientists and fiction writers. What if a gene mutates? What if she never married him? Science is fabulous inspiration for fiction - come read out your science-inspired stories and poems to win great prizes, including a Focus magazine subscription and champagne. Science-inspired authors Tania Hershman, Sue Guiney and Brian Clegg will judge. Put some science in your fiction!

More details here.

Genomics Forum Poetry Competition 2010

I'm delighted to pass on details of a poetry competition seeking poetry inspired by genetics and genomics. Here it is:

The Genomics Policy and Research Forum is delighted to announce a brand new writing competition for budding poets in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library.

‘improving the human’ - Humanity+poetry
The human genome has been unravelled and mapped. Genes responsible for different illnesses and conditions are being identified. Will this information improve the human and help us avoid disease and death? And does this desire to be perfect mask something more sinister – a lack of empathy for the imperfect?  Will this lead to a genetic divide between rich and poor? Do we even want to live for ever? Or, like the Sibyl, do we think that death gives life its meaning?
Thomas Hardy was inspired by germ plasm theory (the forerunner to genetics) to write ‘Heredity’;

… that is I;
The eternal thing in man,
That heeds no call to die.

Are you similarly inspired?

BriefWrite a poem of no more than 50 lines on the theme of ‘improving the human’.
Rules

• The deadline for entries is 7 October 2010 (National Poetry Day)

• The judges are Gwyneth Lewis (Wales’s National Poet 2005-06), Peggy Hughes at the Scottish Poetry Library, and Professor Steve Yearley, (director of the Genomics Forum)
  
• Poems should not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere

• Entrants can be of any nationality. Entrants can only submit one poem.

Send your poems to pippa.goldschmidt@ed.ac.uk
Please send your poem as an attachment to your email, and ensure that the attachment contains only the poem and poem title (if using a title) but no other identification. In the body of the email, please list your name, contact details and poem title (or first line of poem, if you do not wish to give it a title).

Results
Winners will be contacted in November 2010 and a list of winning entries will be posted on the Genomics Forum website by the end of November.
A selection of the winning and shortlisted poems will be published in a special publication of the Forum in 2010.
The Scottish Poetry Library will host an evening of poetry readings based on the winning entries.
First prize is £500, second prize is £200, and third prize is £100.

Copyright
Copyright remains with the author, but the Genomics Forum has the right to publish winning poems on its website and in a special publication.

We Got Liminal....

I just wanted to write a quick blog about last week's Let's Get Liminal: Artistic Science and Scientific Art seminar (see previous blog post for details) which I found absolutely fascinating and I hope all those who came did too. The idea was to briefly showcase some of what's going on in Bristol University in that (liminal) "space between" arts and sciences - from the collaboration between a glaciologist and an artist, "artistic" images from research, and medical students' creative work about the practice of medicine.

Our visiting guest artists, Kira O'Reilly and Oron Catts, are in, it seems to me, another space entirely, a new and very exciting place where bioart is being done - artists learning about the tools used in biology labs and then using these methods and processes to produce art. 

The questions that Oron and Kira ask and then attempt to answer through their artworks are the basic questions of life that scientists  also ask. Kira, for example, says: What happens if I look at my own skin as just another type of material, just more stuff? (I am paraphrasing, forgive me). And she engages audiences with her installations, inviting them to also grapple with these issues. Oron - who gave us a detailed history of tissue culture, when it was first done and by whom - showed examples of how he and his collaborators have set up fully-functional labs in museum spaces to "grow" exhibits such as a leather jacket made from "victimless leather". 

It was a wide-ranging afternoon, and I found it both inspiring and moving, seeing these two monliths, ART and SCIENCE, so often kept apart by high walls and arbitrary definitions, actually merging harmoniously to produce something extraordinary which delights, informs and provokes. The first of many such meetings, I hope...!

Here are a few pictures of the proceedings (I didn't take pictures of every speaker - sometimes I was too engrossed and I forgot!):

Maggie Leggett, director of the University's Centre for Public Engagement, talks about plans for next year's Changing Perspectives exhibition in various Bristol galleries.

 Professor Jon Keating and Chrystal Chernwichan showed clips from the Mathematical Ethnographies films and the Science Faculty portraits, and talked about how people have reacted to using these media to put across something different about science - and about the concept of beauty and how it means something different, perhaps, to mathematicians and to artists!

Emily, a medical student, talks about a painting she did for the Creative Arts course she chose to take as part of her medical degree. I found it very moving, listening to her describe her painting of a woman with a spinal condition.

Dr Louise Younie (above) and Catherine Lamont-Robinson, artist and curator, talk about the Out of Our Heads project, showcasing creative work done by medical students. Louise talked about why she intiated the course and the hopes she has that integrating artistic practice into medical study will encourage greater empathy for patients amongst the medical students, who paint pictures, write poems, even create dance pieces inspired by their clinical practice.

Becky Jones showed us "beautiful" ( a word that had become a little controversial by this point in the seminar!) images from the labs which were entered for the 2009 Art of Science competition such as the one above, a confocal image showing communication between brain cells by Sam Lane. The 2010 competition opens shortly...

Dr Giles Brown and Emma Stibbon talked about their glacier-focused collaboration which resulted in artworks such as Emma's stunning picture, above, of the Aletsch Glacier. It was really interesting to hear how Emma went about researching her artworks, and that by drawing she is in many ways connected with the historical depictions of natural phenomena, harking back to the time before cameras, digital or otherwise. Giles pointed out that people approach and interact with Emma's 7ft drawing of a glacier hanging in his office in an entirely different way to the way they would approach a photograph of the same glacier.

Kira O'Reilly, giving us an overview of many of her astonishing and wonderfully provocative artworks and installations, and told us about her time in biology labs - how she tried to do inject something different into the atmosphere, wearing a striking crimson lab coat, for example!

Oron Catts introducing SymbioticA, A Centre of Excellent in Biological Arts, which runs workshops worldwide for artists, and invites artists to do residencies in the School of Anatomy and Human Biology at The University of Western Australia ... and even grants degrees in biological arts, making it unique. He was asked afterwards whether he wouldn't describe himself as a scientist, given the lab-based work he does, but he answered that he far preferred to be described as an artist. Another interesting issue to think about...

I don't think anyone would have failed to be stirred in some way by all these presentations. It caused me to look at my time in the labs in a different way, perhaps more visual... and so here's a little "art" of my own. I took this yesterday: What is it?! Leave a comment and the best answer wins... well, much glory!

 

Let's Get Liminal! Scientific Art & Artistic Science, June 30th

 Mer de Glace, EMMA STIBBON

What happens in that space where science meets art and art meets science? Come along to this half-day seminar to have a look at what's going on and what will be happening, both at Bristol University and outside. Speakers will be showing films of mathematicians and scientists talking about how they do what they do, beautiful scientific images, an artistic collaboration between a glaciologist and an artist, a course on creativity for medical students and more...


We are delighted to welcome special guests Oron Catts, director of SymbioticA, Australia's artistic laboratory dedicated to the research, learning, critique and hands-on engagement with the life sciences, and UK-based artist Kira O'Reilly, a former SymbioticA artist-in-residence. Scroll down for more information about the speakers. 

When: Wed June 30th 2010, from 2-6pm, including drinks & nibbles, 
FREE EVENT

Where: NSQI Centre, Tyndall Avenue (opposite the Arts and Social Sciences Library)

What's Happening:  

2.00 - 2.10 Welcome: Tania Hershman, Science Faculty Writer in Residence 

2.10 - 2.25 Maggie Leggett, Director, Centre for Public Engagement, 2011 Changing Perspectives exhibition 

2.25 - 2.45 Professor Jon Keating, Dean of the Science Faculty, Chrystal Cherniwchan, Science Faculty films and portraits 

2.45 - 3.15 Dr Louise Younie, Catherine Lamont-Robinson, Out of Our Heads, creativity for medical students 

3.15 - 3.30 Becky Jones, organiser, The Art of Science Competition 

3.30 - 3.50 Dr Giles Brown (glaciologist) and his artistic collaborator Emma Stibbon 

3.50 - 4.00 BREAK 

4.00 - 4.20 Kira O'Reilly, artist, SymbioticA residency 

4.20 - 5.05 Oron Catts, director, SymbioticA, art and science collaborative research lab 

5.05 - 6pm Drinks & nibbles

Speakers:

Tania Hershman is fiction-writer-in-residence in Bristol University's Science Faculty. Find out more at www.taniahershman.com.

Maggie Leggett: Head of Department, Centre for Public Engagement. Maggie will be introducing Changing Perspectives, an exhibition planned for Spring 2011 which seeks to engage and alter the perspectives of a wide range of people though art inspired by science – life, physical and social science - produced by artists in collaboration with University of Bristol staff and students.

Professor Jon Keating is Dean of the Faculty of Science and Professor of Mathematical Physics.

Chrystal Cherniwchan studied photography at the Alberta College of Art & Design, in Canada. After completing her BFA, she spent several years assisting and developing her own documentary practice. Chrystal is now based in the UK, and is currently working on a series of short documentary films and portraits, profiling mathematicians and scientists at the University of Bristol. www.chrystalcherniwchan.com

 

Dr Louise Younie is aGP and teaching fellow at Bristol University's Medical School. she also delivers a 2nd year taught SSC "Exploring the creative arts in health and illness". This involves co-facilitation with artists and creative therapists where the students engage in dialogue, reflection and their own creative work. Creativity and the arts in medical education was also the topic of her MSc dissertation. 

Catherine Lamont-Robinson is an artist and curator of Out of Our Heads, a project by students and staff of University of Bristol Medical school to showcase creative work. It is often said that medicine is both Art and Science. In the modern medical curriculum there is a goodly amount of science. But what about the Art? What is it, is it important and should it be part of the curriculum?

Becky Jones is a PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry and the organiser of The Art of Science, a competition in the Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Sciences in collaboration with @Bristol. The challenge, open to postgraduates across the faculty, was to represent scientific research in all its aesthetic beauty.

 

Dr Giles Brown is a glaciologist in the University's School of Geographical Studies, focussing on glacier meltwater hydrochemistry, chemical weathering processes and rate in mountain/cold environments; snow chemistry; glacier and snow hydrology. He collaborated with artist Emma Stibbon: The emphasis of Stibbon’s research is on the relationship between the mutability of place and the process of drawing.Exploring the temporal qualities of a glacier through drawing. An artist working primarily on paper, she has established her reputation through a wide exhibition profile and a series of residencies and awards.

Kira O’Reilly is a UK based artist; her practice, both wilfully interdisplinary and entirely undisciplined, stems from a visual art background; it employs performance, biotechnical practices and writing with which to consider speculative reconfigurations of bodies.

Since graduating from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff in 1998 with a BA (HONS) in Fine Art, her performance works have been exhibited widely throughout the UK, Europe, Australia, China and Mexico.

In October 2004 she completed an artist residency at SymbioticA, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, funded by a Wellcome Trust sciart research and development award. She was concerned with exploring convergence between contemporary biotechnical tissue culturing and traditional lace making crafts, using the materiality of skin at its cellular level as material and metaphor. She has continued and expanded these investigations as artist in residence in the School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, funded by Arts Council of England and Wellcome Trust where she is investigating using spider silk and bone, muscle and nerve cell cultures as biomedia, and the relations between tissue, text and textile – as variants on the theme of techné with writing outcomes.

In 2009 new works included falling sleep with a pig (2009) commissioned by The Arts Catalyst for INTERSPECIES. She presented Stair Falling (2009) exhibited as part of Marina Abramovic Presents . . . at Manchester International Festival. Her work inthewrongplaceness (2005 – 2009) was curated by Jens Hauser in the highly successful sk-interfaces, Creating Membranes in Art, Technology and Society, at Casino Luxembourg.

In autumn 2010 she beings an AHRC funded three year creative fellowship at Department of Drama, Queen Mary University of London; Thresholds of Performance: Between Body, Laboratory and Text.

Oron Catts is director of SymbioticA, an artistic laboratory dedicated to the research, learning, critique and hands-on engagement with the life sciences. SymbioticA’s emphasis is on experiential practice. SymbioticA facilitates a thriving program of residencies, research, academic courses, exhibitions, symposiums, and workshops. Researchers and students from all disciplines work on individual projects or in interdisciplinary teams to explore the shifting relations and perceptions of life.

As a research centre within the School of Anatomy and Human Biology at The University of Western Australia, SymbioticA enables direct and visceral engagement with scientific techniques. Crossing the disciplines of art and the life sciences, SymbioticA encourages better understanding and articulation of cultural ideas around scientific knowledge and informed critique of the ethical and cultural issues of life manipulation.