An
extraordinary day at Kings. The Knowing through Making conference was such a
positive day. It was a great opportunity to share some of the experiences I have had from my engagement with the synthetic
anatomy module and my general engagement with the world of science. Working in this world and creating and giving the talk was, as ever a
joy. Constructing and presenting a talk is always a learning experience, an
opportunity of reflection on the amazing journey I have had with my association
and collaborative within the science world. I always feel welcome and what I bring from the world of 'art school' thinking is valued highly. Running the 3 workshops with Celia Pym
was most excellent, I think we gave a flavor of the student experience to the
conference delegates through presentations and especially the workshops. https://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/knowing-through-making-les-bicknellpptlink is to the presentation, although the many gifs embedded within the talk don't animate on the platform. Images from one of the workshops show the need of the groups to work intimately in collaboration.
I have a piece of writing in the excellent
publication that is the Artist's Book YearBook. unfoldingthinking - Making Book Art with Scientists, is a short piece where I reflect on my recent artist’s residency at the
Centre for Doctoral Training in Nanoscience and Technology at Cambridge
University, UK. The publication as a whole is excellent - intellegent and incisive texts alongside important information about whats going on in the book art world - pre order here
-http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/publications/artists-book-yearbook.htmlI'm particulary looking forward to reading Egidija Čiricaitė piece which considers In the Space of Time as she is an alumni of the Book arts Course at Camberwell.Meanwhile a weekend of films - The Box - oddly slow low-fi film with a random alien inspired sci-fi
moral dilemma at its heart. Their Finest - jolly japes from Bill Nighy and
Brits crew. The Dinner - exciting writing exploring what would you
give away to do the right thing. Colossal https://solarmoviez.to/movie/colossal-20521/790788-6/watching.html
is an intensely dark film about control and power.
over at https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ there are endless starting points
for lines of enquiry, almost to the point of being overwhelming. Using the lab
based experimental science practice I've been exposed to as starting points 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 then developed the articulated
structures into static 3D forms by fixing the shapes, transforming the nets
into boxes and casting their internal spaces.
I am going to develop this work by looking to cast the space around the negative forms so that the 'empty
space' is revealed.
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/
