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Artists: An
object is brought into view beneath the lens of a microscope,
the focus knob is turned and the natural world is brought under
close scrutiny.
This episode draws our immediate attention
to what is observed through the instrument, but what else in this
scene might interest us? Is the observed sample unique or one
among hundreds like it? Who is doing the observing? Why is
the study being conducted? Asking these questions changes the
depth of our focus; requires a wider lens. Now we are
considering the context in which science is practiced and the
role that it plays in our culture. the complex network of
questions which emerges is explored by philosophers and social
scientists and, of course , artists. Is science wholly objective? Should it be? Ann Lovett's chilling book Sight Unseen places side-by-side clinically titled photographs of eye afflictions and the story of a woman whose lover blinds her. This is not an indictment, but certainly underscores the cool detachment of medical science. British artist Louise K. Wilson goes further, challenging science conducted in a morel vacuum. Her multi-media piece Oneironaut is about the 1957 flight into space of the dog Laika as part of the Soviet space program. Laika's fate; death and disintegration in space, is slowly revealed. Certainly, scientific
method is sometimes twisted to justify unsupportable claims.
Michael Oatman's installation documents the practice of eugenics
in Vermont only a few years before Hitler's horrifying
application of this belief in racial superiority. the
installation includes a video re-enactment of inflammatory
remarks made by a eugenicist, presented in the measured tones of
scientific authority offensive in their blatant racism. Scientists may speculate on origins and measure effects and debate significance and potential, but the processes of nature carry on with no heed of our efforts. the pre-eminence of natural processes is underscored by Dove Bradshaw's lyric works. A relentless drip of water carved canyons, we4 are told, and this magic is demonstrated before us. Agnes Denes also allies herself with nature. Her work has combined scientific study and visual expression fro three decades. In the elegance of math and physics, in the patterns of sunflowers and bird migration, she finds models for utopian social systems. The last group in the exhibition examine representations of scientific findings. the appearance of Robert Chamber's Hair Gel ball at first suggests that a serious effort has been undertaken to model a biological object, but the title and list of materials reveal a playful turn. The DNA molecule transmits genetic information from one generation to the next. Distinctions in the structure of the molecule create a "language" with a code unique to each individual. Suzanne Anker creates intricate prints of a genetic "text". Surprisingly similar in appearance are the tiny human figure she inserts, illustrations from exercise manuals, and the calligraphic marks, examples of Leonardo da Vinci secret code writing, used to record ideas in his notebooks. The combination of these images suggests the facets of a person's identity: their genetic make-up, their physical body and the product of their intellect. Illustration and diagrams are used to record, clarify, and communicate scientific observations. Ross Martin mangles text and collage images from the scientific canon to produce a parody of a science book. Daniel Zeller produces meticulously rendered drawings that seem to record the appearance of body organs, but these fictional parts would never appear in an autopsy. Rene Descartes was a 17th century philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. How better to observe the contributions of the founder of analytic geometry than to construct a die-cut-pop-up book? Descartes philosophy had little use for intuition, yet this work by Francois Deschamps and Judith Mohns is clearly the product of invention, which must be in equal parts rational and intuitive.
Into
Focus
explores some of the ways science is received
outside of the scientific community. There is a growing interest
in the potential for mutual benefit when the worlds of art and
science meet like this. It is a crossroads worth
encountering.
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Into Focus/Art On Science:
Michael Oatman
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