Science as an inspiration for contemporary art is a largely overlooked opportunity. Perhaps it's the math filter for science careers or the conceptual semantics filter for contemporary art careers. It could be the overall downward interest in science in America. Or it could be the culture wars on art.
But science produces beautiful and complex visual artifacts which can be sampled for art. And the conceptual base is right under the surface.
There is beautiful raw material in physics, nanomaterials, visualization of molecules, energy, climate, geology and tectonics as well as biological building blocks: phages, viruses, cells and organs.
Portland artist Elise Wagner has work inspired by high energy physics and climate. Geraldine Ondrizek draws inspiration from science. There are Portland scientists who make art, but not in the contemporary art ecosystem.
I've always loved Janine Antoni's Slumber, based on electroencephalograms.
A subset is bio art related to genetics.
Bioartist George Gessert's art is inspired by plant breeding. He has traced the history of DNA-inspired art: https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/jaro2012/IMK48/A_History_of_Art_Involving_DNA.pdf. Early, Dali was inspired by DNA https://www.nature.com/articles/422817a. In 2002, Robin Held at the Henry mounted Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics. Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, who ranges across many scientific topics, developed visual material based on gel electrophoresis of DNA. Now those DNA analysis patterns have crossed into consumer decorative and fashion items independent of the contemporary art world.
Genetics travels beyond primitive viruses in DNA. DNA? That was discovered by Watson and Crick and noted by a Nobel. The illustrations for the original paper were conceived by Odile Crick. Portland artist Kindra Crick is their granddaughter.
She has her own science-inspired projects.
Tonight artist Crick opens Illuminated Wilderness: Memory here. It occupies the whole of the Littman Gallery.
One piece includes models of neurons at about 30000:1 scale, with LED lighting suggesting action potentials. It was developed in collaboration with a neuroscience researcher in Washington. This should be a fun show and is included in the Winter Light Festival outlying shows.
The artist gives a talk January 31, 6PM at the gallery. Opening at the PSU Littman Gallery in Smith Union. www.littmanwhite.com/ PSU Smith Hall, Room 250, 1825 SW Broadway. Map 5PM-8 Free
We don't cover every Open Signal event but some. Strewn: Lu Yim, Sidony O'Neal, Maya Vivas, & Hannah Krafcik with Pepper Pepper and They Gamble perform tonight. At Open Signal www.opensignalpdx.org 2766 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. 7PM $8-$10 sliding
