Review: The listening dimension

If Olafur Eliasson wasn't already one of the world's most interesting living artists, he would be my very favorite science museum exhibit developer.

Eliasson's elegant grasp of the connections between art and science are on display in his show entitled "The listening dimension" currently on view at the Tonya Bonakdar Gallery in New York City.

Eliasson says: “The listening dimension emerged against the backdrop of the 2016 US elections. At a time when oversimplification is everywhere, I believe that art can play an important role in creating aesthetic experiences that are both open and complex. Today, in politics, we are bombarded with emotional appeals, often linked to simplistic, polarizing, populist ideas. The arts and culture, on the other hand, provide spaces in which people can disagree and still be together, where they can share individual and collective experiences that are ambiguous and negotiable. At its best, art is an exercise in democracy; it trains our critical capacities for perceiving and interpreting the world. Yet art does not tell us what to do or how to feel, but rather empowers us to find out for ourselves.”

Each of the pieces packs a big visual punch starting with Rainbow bridge, a series of glass spheres that have sections of mirrored, colored, and back pieces placed so that balls of color shift and change depending on your position --- creating eclipses, rainbows, or mirrors.

Three room-sized reflective panels, The listening dimension  (orbit 1, orbit 2, and orbit 3) , form the centerpiece of the exhibition.  As you enter the room you see a set of what appear to be rings floating in space.

But as you approach the reflective walls and look behind, you realize that Eliasson has created a carefully-crafted illusion, and the rings disclose themselves as semicircular tubes mounted to frames behind the mirrored surface.  This aspect of "revealing the perceptual trick" is classic Olafur Eliasson, and one of the reasons I find his installations so appealing.

Behind the mylar

Upstairs, the artist continues to play with light and perceptions. 

Midnight sun creates a visual dialogue between intense light and a concave mirror to give the viewer a sense of peering into a portal to another world.

One of my favorite pieces in The listening dimension is Colour experiment no. 78.

As you enter a room bathed in a yellow sodium light you notice a series of vaguely monochromatic circles.  In the center of the room hangs a long cord with a round knob at the end.  When somebody pulls the cord, a large incandescent lightbulb hanging from the ceiling illuminates and instantly changes the circles to a series of different-colored paintings.

But what really changed?  Colour experiment offers a big Wow! followed by a quieter Aha! as viewers think about and investigate the experiment Eliasson has provided for us.  While the craft of the experience is completely evident, Eliasson also invests time and resources in working with scientists.  This particular piece is the result of Eliasson’s ongoing research into color phenomena, a process that began by working with a color chemist to create colors that match each nanometer of light in the visible spectrum. 



The last piece that Olafur Eliasson has put together is a room filled with point-source lights and the rings from a deconstructed Fresnel lens, of the type found in lighthouses.  Eliasson experiments with combinations and positions of light and lenses to create stunning effects of light, shadows, and spectra.

I really can't say enough about the impact of Olafur Eliasson and his art.  I encourage you to check out his website and to seek out opportunities to view his work in person at galleries or museums around the world.

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: Real Time Data Sites

I love real time data visualization websites!  In addition to being a perfect blend of science, art, and technology, the web-sights provide a soothing thrum of information that I find mesmerizing and relaxing.  I also think these sites are great inspiration for museum/exhibit/design ideas.

Some of my favorite real time data sites are listed below:


Wind Map  gives a real time visualization of wind speeds in the U.S. It's like a giant video info graphic!   A more three-dimensional view of wind around the entire globe is available at the earth website (pictured at the top of this post.)

Line of Sight provides a way for you to track satellites and other human-created space materials flying over your current location.


While you are up in the air, check out planefinder.net  a sight that lets you pick out the location of commercial aircraft during their flights.

Coming back to Earth, you can track tectonic activity by seeing the geographic locations of active earthquakes and volcanoes at this site, or view National Weather Service satellite data, including infrared, visible light, and water vapor views.

Finishing up on the terrestrial side, EarthCam is a website that lets you easily choose and view real time webcam feeds from interesting places around the world.

I'll finish out this post with two digital "eye candy" sites.  Tweetping gives you real time data mapping of tweets around the world, while Google Trends Hot Searches gives you a constantly scrolling feed of current trending searches on the popular site.

I hope clicking to these sites gives you some inspiration and enjoyment!  Did we miss any of your favorite real time data sites? Let us know about them in the "Comments" section below!


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Quick Creative Inspiration: Camera On A Car Wheel

Artist Dirk Koy had a simple, but great, idea --- stick a camera on a car wheel.

The results are hypnotic and a great reminder to creative folks that even simple materials can lead to spectacular results.

Enjoy the video here. 


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Museum Exhibit Design Inspiration: Matthew Albanese

Dioramas, whether large or small, may be considered by many to be too "old school" for the hyper-connected museum-verse.

Until you see the work of artist Matthew Albanese. 

The incredibly artful and detailed miniature worlds he creates are mesmerizing, but even better, he shares the techniques and materials --- mostly familiar household stuff alchemically transformed (like the tornado image above made of steel wool, cotton, ground parsley and moss) through detailed miniature construction --- on his website. 

You can see examples of finished images in the "Strange Worlds" section of his website, and learn about how he created his finished photographs in the "Modeling My Worlds" area.


There's something incredibly inspiring about someone who creates beautiful work and is willing to pull back the curtain by explaining parts of the process.  Museums are great at showing "end products" but not so great at explicating the creative process --- that's why I think it would be great to have a show of Albanese's photos and the mini-dioramas that were constructed to create them.

Is there an opportunity to use such "old school" work to bridge the traditional world of museums with the tribes of digital natives?  (Perhaps as a way to create more engaging videos or online media experiences ...) Let us know what you think in the "Comments" section below.

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Art and Science in Design: One Day Poem Pavilion

Many designers talk about the intersection of art and science, but the "One Day Poem Pavilion" actually delivers.

Artist Jiyeon Song has created a sculptural structure that utilizes perforations carefully arranged throughout the top surfaces.  As light shines through the Pavilion's holes at different angles, legible text is created on the sidewalk underneath.  Different lines from a poem appear at different times of the day, due to the position of the sun.  What is super cool is that (again, due to the sun's position) one poem appears during the summer, and a different poem appears in the winter.

As described on Song's "Experiential Typography" website:

The specific arrangements of the perforations reveal different poems according to the solar calendar: a theme of new-life during the summer solstice. During the summer solstice, the poem will contain the theme of “new life”. During the winter solstice, the poem will be on “reflection and the passing of time.”

The resulting effect is inviting and magical. Within the pavilion, the poem can be seen between 8 AM and 4PM. The poem consists of 5 lines with each line lasting about an hour. The slowness of message offers us a meditative moment within our hectic lives.  

You can see a timelapse movie of the piece in action below or on the website as well.  The entire Experiential Typography website is worth a look as Jiyeon Song carefully documents and articulates both the art and the science of the creative development process underlying a piece like  One Day Poem Pavilion.

Nice work!





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Exhibit Design Inspiration: A History of the Sky

Ken Murphy is developing a project called "A History of the Sky" that uses time-lapse video (captured from a camera on the roof of the Exploratorium) to document the changes in the sky to help viewers appreciate the rhythms of weather, the lengthening and shortening of days, and other atmospheric events.

As you can see in the still image below or the YouTube video above, it is a wonderful way to integrate nature, art and technology.

You can find out more about the project (including technical details) and lots more images by visiting the AHotS website.  Enjoy!

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: The Glue Society

The Glue Society is a group of writers, directors, and designers based in Sydney and New York.

As you can see from the example of their work entitled "Chair Arch" in the video above, and the image of the melted ice cream truck entitled "Hot with the Chance of Late Storm" they really know how to put creative twists on familiar materials and environments.



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Why Can't Art Museums Have More Interactive Exhibits?

And why can't Science Museums and Children's Museums (the traditionally "hands-on museums) have more "hands-off" (minds-on?) artworks on display?

I started thinking some more about this since I recently opened an exhibition entitled "The Animated Artwork of Laura Vaccaro Seeger" at The Nassau County Museum of Art here on Long Island. (It's up until January 4th, 2009, so if you're in the area, come take a look!)

The exhibition includes interactive exhibits and installations that naturally dovetail with themes like light and color, metamorphosis, and negative space that show up in the award-winning children's books that Laura writes and illustrates. This would definitely NOT be a big deal if I was designing this sort of show at a "hands-on" museum, but this was the first time that NCMA had put on a show with so many deliberately interactive exhibit pieces. Initially the museum staff were even a little freaked out by having loose books in the gallery (in a show by an author!)
so we compromised by mounting the books on "reading shelves" attached to the walls.

Shows like the art museum show, "Take Your Time" by Olafur Eliasson, incorporate stunning pieces that, with a little tweaking, could make equally amazing science museum exhibits. But since Eliasson's pieces are "art" they are not meant to be touched, or interacted with physically, at least inside of an art museum.

At issue seems to be the context that people (with or without young children in tow) approach different types of museums. The atmosphere in most art museums is on the level of a library --- hushed tones, silent contemplation, and guards occasionally telling people to settle down. One of the complaints from guards (but not visitors!) in the Laura Vaccaro Seeger show is that some of the interactive pieces make noise, or cause the visitors to make noise!

Of course most science centers and children's museums often seem like a cross between a fun house and a race track --- frenetic busy activity, and experiences that seem to invite chaos more than contemplation. So is it possible to introduce contemplative experiences into such active spaces?

I remember speaking with Bernie Zubrowski about a piece that he developed and displayed at The Exploratorium, entitled "The Ghost of Amelia Earhart". The piece incorporated a silky piece of fabric (Amelia's scarf?) immersed in a tank of water being gently swirled by currents. There are interesting moire patterns caused when the fabric overlaps, as well as mysterious shadows formed by the lighting inside the tank.

When I saw Bernie's piece at The Exploratorium, I loved it. Unfortunately, I was one of the very few visitors to take the time to pay attention to its subtle pleasures. Despite being a treasure trove of art and science exhibits, The Exploratorium wasn't really conducive to a piece like Bernie's which required quiet concentration from the viewer. However, "The Ghost of Amelia Earhart" would have been very well received in an art museum or gallery show.

So how can we get art museums to "loosen up" on their approach to exhibits and visitor interactions, or should we?

What about more getting "interactive museums" to provide more contemplative spaces and opportunities?

Or are all types of museums trapped by the genre classifications that they have worked so hard to foster and create?

UPDATE: Here's an interesting article on the subject concerning the "Act/React: Interactive Installation Art" exhibition that will open in Milwaukee in January 2009.

What do you think? Should we just let art museums be art museums, and hands-on museums be hands-on museums, or have you seen exhibits or exhibitions that help blur the lines? Put your thoughts into the "Comments Section" below!

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: Nikon Small World 2008

Nikon has an excellent website listing the winners of their 2008 "Small World" photomicrography competition (and those from previous years as well.)

Check out the gallery page of the Small World 2008 website to see some of the amazing images, such as the view of Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley) shown above created by Albert Tousson.

You can also check out the schedule for the Nikon Small World Museum Tour to see the twenty winning Small World photomicrographs at a museum near you.

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: Jeremy Mayer

Jeremy Mayer is an artist who creates sculptures from typewriters.

Visit his excellent website to experience the range of his work.

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: touched echo project

Artist Markus Kison has created a "performative installation" entitled "touched echo" on top of the city walls of Dresden, Germany.

While today's scenic overlook is beautiful, Dresden was also part of a terrible bombing raid in World War II. As a way to get visitors to the city to contemplate the events of the past, the artist has attached sound conducting devices to existing metal railwork. Iconic signs on the rail direct visitors to place their elbows on the rail, and their hands on their ears in a contemplative pose
looking down at the river and buildings that were part of the bombing raids.

Sounds of bombers and explosions are conducted through visitors' bones to their ears. Unless you participate in Kison's piece, the area is silent. This is a clever and thoughtful piece of environmental art with an obvious historic twist.

There are extensive photos, and technical descriptions, of "touched echo" at the artist's website.

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: Cloud

The art and design group Troika was commissioned to create this amazing flip-dot sculpture, called "Cloud", for Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in the UK.

The surface of the five meter long sculpture is covered with 4638 flip-dots, similar to those found in traffic signs and train stations.

As you can see from the video above, Troika uses a computer to control the flip-dots to create the patterns seen on the surface of the sculpture.

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What Happened to the "Science" in Science Museums?

Karen Heller wrote an interesting article in the Philadelphia Inquirer recently about "The Franklin" (formerly known as The Franklin Institute, before its "rebranding.")

Let's just say it wasn't pretty. She bemoaned the museum's lack of science in it's glitzy offerings and equated the museum's exhibit areas with a casino.

For the most part, I'd say Ms. Heller's article could have just as easily been describing most of the "big" science centers (like those in Boston, or L.A., for example.) The emphasis seems to be on quick, flashy ways to bring people in and sell them junk from the gift shop(s), and downplaying, almost apologizing for, the science.

Is this what happens when the only bottom line is the "bottom line"? Take the time to read Heller's article (note especially the responses to the poll questions about The Franklin) and let us know what you think in the "Comments Section" below.

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Exhibit Design Inspiration: Toys From Trash

"Toys from Trash" is part of a larger site based in India that details how to construct HUNDREDS of fun little devices out of simple household materials.

Many of the toys have a scientific bent, and range from from a clever "Gyro Disk" made from a spare CD, to a simple DC motor.

Toys from Trash makes a great resource for museum folks, and a perfect idea generator for anyone who wants to have fun making simple science toys.

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More Exhibit Design Inspiration: Festo AirJelly

It must be something about the warm weather on Long Island that brings out these "oceany" inspirations! (see my previous Golden Ray post.)

The Festo Corporation created this beautiful remote controlled "AirJelly." It's a little more than a meter across and weighs just under three pounds.

Festo's main website is in German, but they also provide an almost poetic PDF brochure in English about the AirJelly project that outlines the history of gas balloon flight and the analogies drawn between air and water as "fluids." (Apparently many of the early gas balloon gondolas were modeled after the hulls of ships!) This history of gas balloon flight served as an inspiration for the development of AirJelly.

In Festo's brochure, the AirJelly is said to be powered by "peristaltic motion" thanks to a clever adaptive gearing mechanism produced by Festo.

The AirJelly is just one in Festo's mechanical menagerie that also includes "AquaJelly".

I'd love to see an AirJelly inside the atrium of a big museum or airport!

Exhibit Design Inspiration: Olafur Eliasson

I first read about the artist Olafur Eliasson in a review on the ExhibitFiles website of his exhibition called "Take Your Time." Clearly, everyone who saw and commented on Eliasson's work was enthusiastic, if not blown away.

Well now I know why.

I was fortunate enough to see the version of "Take Your Time" on display at MoMA in New York with my 13 year old son, and we both were delighted, amazed, and yes, blown away. Most of the installations in the exhibition were rooms or small spaces that used elements of light, color, optics, and geometry that really forced you to "take your time" (in a pleasant way) to appreciate truly magical and subtle effects.

Afterwards, I couldn't help comparing these high-profile ART pieces with phenomenological exhibit pieces I've made for, or seen in, science museums. (For instance, I loved the piece called "Ventilator" --- it was sort of like a funky, technological version of a Foucault Pendulum except that the pendulum bob was replaced by an electric fan that created ever-changing arcs.)

The majority of Olafur Eliasson's pieces were more subtle, and inpired a sort of hushed reverence in visitors, than most science center exhibit components. Also, to be quite honest, the unprotected nature of expensive (and hot!) lighting equipment just made me cringe. I even told my son at one point, "This stuff would last about 5 minutes in a science center before it got destroyed."

But maybe those of us who design exhibits and experiences in the often frenetic, high-tech, super saturated world of science centers could take a page from Mr. Eliasson and strive for ways to create more intimate exhibit environments that whisper, rather than shout, our messages.

But, don't take my word for it, search out Eliasson's work to experience in person. And ... take your time.

If you'd like to read further about some thoughtful efforts to think about shifting the design of both exhibit components and museum environments to increase visitor engagement, I could not more highly recommend the book, "Fostering Active Prolonged Engagement: The Art of Creating APE Exhibits" available from ASTC.

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Museum Exhibit Inspiration: The Work Of Arthur Ganson

One of my favorite artists is Arthur Ganson. I've been a big fan of Arthur and his work ever since I met him many years ago while working in the Boston area. (And I can take some small credit for bringing Arthur to Austin for a show that led to the inspiration for his toy called "Toobers and Zots.")

Speaking of Boston, if you find yourself within striking distance of the MIT Museum, you should see Arthur's ongoing exhibition called Gestural Engineering. It's a magical collection of his witty and intricate sculptures.

The video below is from a talk Arthur gave at the TED conference that gives a nice overview of his work and approach. Enjoy!




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InterfaCE: An Art/Science Collaboration

How can an artist's sensitive pastel drawings of Antarctic topography be useful in creating new nano-surfaces for micro-biological forms to grow?

Cynthia Pannucci, the founder/director of Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI), a 20-year old nonprofit organization based in New York serving the international art-sci-tech field recently told me about the unusual, on-going, collaboration of New Zealand artist, Claire Beynon, and New York-based polar research biologist, Sam Bowser.

Their work is highlighted on this month's ASCI Featured Member Page

Claire and Sam's collaborative art-science work began with several field research trips to Antarctica, but fundamentally it is distinguished by a unique collaborative process in which each has embraced and been influenced by the other's work and process (in the field, laboratory, studio, and gallery settings.) Most artist-scientist collaborations that I have seen over the years involve the artist being inspired by the scientist's research and/or helping the scientist visualize his/her research. Rarely does it move in the other direction of influence!

Sam studies an ancient group of unicellular creatures called Foraminifera ("forams"), in an attempt to understand their role in the functioning of marine ecosystems.

In their novel art/science collaboration, Claire's artwork, inspired by a season's research in Antarctica with Sam's team, is taken by Sam and miniaturized through nanolithographic methods and used as a template to produce a feature-rich growth substrate for forams to inhabit. Information on their motile behavior and structure is gathered using time-lapse video light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, which in turn is applied to generate scientific hypotheses for more formal experimental tests. Claire then utilizes these scientific images as prompts for new artwork.

To their knowledge, this work is the first to explore ways in which Antarctic microorganisms are influenced by topographic features similar in scale to that of their native environments. By cycling information through artistic, scientific, and microbial processes in a way that is analogous to how energy and resources flow through Antarctic ecosystems, they believe their collaborative process presents a new creative paradigm that will be widely applicable to other life science disciplines.

The various iterative art/science products and collaborative dynamics of the Beynon/Bowser team were recently presented via INTERFACE, a visual display and lecture at the Frances Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York on May 2, 2008.

Please contact Cynthia Pannucci, ASCI Founder/Director if you have any questions.

ASCI has an open membership of artists, scientists, technologists, and those interested in the intersection of these fields.

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