Science and Art
- Ongoing: until Tuesday, November 30, 2010
- Monday: 10:00am
- Tuesday: 10:00am
- Wednesday: 10:00am
- Thursday: 10:00am
- Friday: 10:00am
- Saturday: 1:00pm
- Where: Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
What does Origami have to do with geometry? Can a worm be a work of art? How is music created from a micro-chip? How can a nanometer of water become a full-body interactive experience?
All these questions and more will be answered in a new exhibit opening May 9 at the Museum of Discovery. "Science & Art" features five projects created by artists who have specific masteries in scientific areas.
"The artwork in this exhibit is unique because the artists started as scientists," says Nan Selz, Executive Director. "If they were not experts in their respective fields, they could not create the artwork they do."
The displays are designed to show that art and science aren't the same thing but have much in common. Visitors will also experience how art can be used to convey scientific ideas and phenomena and will experience science from a fresh point of view.
"Science & Art" was created and built by the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) for the Arkansas Discovery Network, a network of seven partner museums throughout the state. SMM has over 30 years of experience designing and building exhibits and a staff of nearly 100 specialists. It has received more informal science education grants from the National Science Foundation than any other science museum in the country. The American Museum Association included three of its traveling exhibits among the most influential exhibits of the last 100 years. It is recognized nationally for its leadership in producing traveling science exhibits, educational IMAX® films, innovative programs, and educational resources.
"Science and Art" will open to the public on Saturday, May 9 at the Museum of Discovery.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The first stop in the gallery features Origami sculpture work by Robert Lang, Ph.D., one of the world's leading origami masters with more than 500 designs catalogued and diagrammed. Lang's work shows how following simple folding rules and some basic mathematical principals allows the creation of a complex and beautiful 3D world of art made from paper. Visitors may fold their own work of art to take home or leave for display in the gallery's "visitor art" section.
Next, visitors will be directed to the "Beautiful Worm," which combines biology and photography, offering a unique window into the world of scientific research as interpreted through art. This part of the exhibit showcases research of the C. elegans worm by Ahna Skop, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin. A real microscope with video head allows visitors to look at live specimens and illustrates what researchers such as Skop have learned from this creature. See more here.
Visitors will also enjoy the creations of 1-Bit Music inventor Tristan Perich. The 1-Bit is part art, part physics and part mathematics. 1-Bit compositions are delivered to listeners via an on/off switch, micro-chip, battery, earphone jack and volume control all squeezed into a plastic CD case. Mr. Perich's myspace page can be accessed here, which includes some recordings of his music.
Wearable computers can also be found on display in "Science & Art." Leah Buechley, assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), uses electronics and textiles to build soft wearable computers. A display of Buechley's work allows visitors to select and see the different LED display patterns designed and programmed into the fabric.
Rounding out the exhibit is electronic artist and computer scientist Scott Snibbe who introduces visitors to the concept of the nano-scale. "Three Drops," is a multimedia experience that requires participants to move in front of a large screen to interact with projections of water at the macro, micro and then nano-scale and allows them to experience how the physical properties of water change at these three different scales.
The exhibit will tour the Arkansas Discovery Network's seven museum partners, including Museum of Discovery, through 2011. "Science & Art" will appear at the following Arkansas museums (dates are tentative; visitors are encouraged to confirm exhibit dates with each museum):
* Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, Smackover
Aug. 15, 2009 - Nov. 22, 2009
* Texarkana Museums System, Texarkana
Nov. 28, 2009 - February 2010
* Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs
February 2010 - May 2010
* Arkansas State University Museum, Jonesboro
May 2010 - August 2010
* Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff
August 2010 - November 2010
* Center for Math and Science Education, Fayetteville
November 2010 - February 2011
This event was posted May 26, 2009 and last updated May 26, 2009
