From those colorful little textbook diagrams that elucidate
complex subjects to abstract paintings that can describe scenes
that words cannot, art is a tool that helps us understand our
world.
And if a picture really can paint a thousand words then a
billion can be said tonight with an interactive demonstration like
“Zero@wavefunction: nano dreams and nightmares” where
the aesthetic meets the atom in the Court of Sciences. Narrowing
the gap between the concrete rationality of science and the fluid
creativity of art, this presentation aims to bring the art of
nanoscience to a more general public.
UCLA, the home to California NanoSystems Institute, has been at
the helm of this brave new world of science. The prefix
“nano” means “one-billionth,” and
nanoscience studies materials with very small dimensions as a way
of understanding the world at large. Yet to most people, this new
wave of science and technology remains an enigma. For this reason
“Zero@wavefunction” uses art as a didactic tool
providing people with a better comprehension. In turn, nanoscience
will help give a new perspective on art.
UCLA’s Department of Design | Media Arts chairwoman
Victoria Vesna and professor of chemistry and biochemistry James
Gimzewski created this collaboration. The presentation couples
various technological advances and artistic styling to mold a world
where art meets science.
“We wanted to make a presentation that showed people art
and science were not two completely separate disciplines, but
rather that they can intertwine and can influence and affect each
other,” Vesna said.
The presentation is divided into three separate projects. The
first, titled “Projections,” is founded on the idea
that all forms of matter change shape. In this installation, a
super-sized shadow of the participant is cast on the wall of Young
Hall. This shadow activates software nanomolecules (buckyballs),
and with the help of sensors, the molecule changes shape and
direction in response to the person’s movements.
“The first project is definitely a playful act that draws
people in,” Vesna said. “It’s a very experiential
presentation that someone would understand more from experiencing
it and playing with it.”
The second and third projects are aimed at providing a more
solid definition of the expansive term “nanoscience.”
The second project combines short quotes and headlines into a
collection describing various key points of nanoscience. The third
project, “Windows to Nanotech,” includes
Gimzewski’s Web cams that he has set-up in his office to
provide access to a larger audience.
“After reading about nanoscience you can see how the
nuances of art can be seen in a physics experiment and how these
two subjects become so interwoven and interrelated,” said
Vikas Erraballi, a first-year neuroscience student.
The presentation will be a two-part production. Scientists will
discuss how they produce such sensitive technology as the
buckyballs and give an in-detail explanation of how they work. A
demonstration will follow.
By opening students’ eyes to different academic scenarios,
the coordinators hope students will walk away and look at their own
disciplines in a broader perspective.
“Even though I loved geometry and math in school, I went
into art because of my horrible math teachers,” Vesna said.
“I wanted to set an example for students and show them that
it’s possible to be a scientist but a creative artist as
well. … Our whole world is moving in a direction where
disciplined boundaries are no longer working. We need to learn how
to cross the boundaries and mold new types of students that are
educated in an array of fields.”
“Zero@wavefunction” aims to accomplish this using
art as a type of sugar to help the medicine go down. The
coordinators hope that the artistic quality will first attract
people to the scene. Then people may broaden their way of thinking
about art as well as technology of the future, such as nanobots
conducting surgery on people.
“This project shows how numerous disciplines can combine
to help explain each other,” Vesna said, “such as a
scientist using science fiction writing, or artists’
representations to exhibit his newest findings to a scientifically
inexperienced community ““ it’s about using a little
from each subject to create an understanding.”
ART: “Zero@wavefuntion: nano dreams and nightmares,”
will be shown at UCLA’s Court of Sciences on Jan. 29 from 6
to 8 p.m. Admission is free. For more info, visit
notime.arts.ucla.edu/zerowave.