The film is an
introduction to some of the work I have been involved in at NanoDTC.
Within a very short period
of encountering NanoTechDTC one is quickly divested of the notion that science is a
fixed rigid occupation, I have found that within the world of nanotechnology thinking
is fast and fluid, creative connections are made which always lead to an
interesting conversation. It was this interdisciplinary, inclusive, outward
thinking approach that attracted me to working within the Maxwell, that and the
wonderful open seating spaces that provide creative nodal points and the futuristic
coffee machine that fuels them.
In the initial phase of
the residency I've been assimilating the wide range of processes and activities
first year students engage with. This was almost a full-time job, the progress
of which can be observed through a dedicated blog which occasionally drifts
into hyperbole as I engage with concepts beyond my world but that very much
underpin it.
I have become preoccupied
by a number of issues. Whilst attending a practical demonstration I can
remember slightly drifting in my mind 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 the
demonstrator used every facility they had to communicate. I have been creating films which explore how
scientific concepts and lab processes are communicated through subconscious
hand gestures whilst in the lab. I developed a number of structures that
mimicked or illustrated the movements made by the hand, these were then given to
the facilitator to recreate the movements. This was subsequently filmed and
juxtaposed with the objects or their initial movements. This small observation
and subsequent body of work has instigated conversation and debate and raised
consciousness amongst scientists about how we communicate.
The question of what
science looks like is a strand of my research, the machines including the electron
microscope and AFM in combination with the imaging software connected to them create
a science aesthetic which exudes trust. Working with software more familiar to
the art world I have developed a number of images and films that mine this
aesthetic creating a dialogue around what information looks like.
I have encountered a
number of machines that map surfaces but to enable this they are calibrated to
'fire' matter at surfaces they are investigating, the evidence of this activity
is mapped, the space between surface and probe providing answers. I am
currently following a line of enquiry that looks at this, 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. if you would like to read/see more https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/
