Art and Science collaborations lead to digital organisms and altered books

Both artists, who came in in August, collaborated with scientists to make a science inspired artwork. Charlie Williams, who presented his final work already back on 26 September, based himself on micro-biome networks that communicate, like mycorrhiza. For his network of 18 “organisms” (digital boards with led light) Williams tried to mimic biological properties as good as possible. The organisms had a clear nucleus, could mutate based on outside stimuli and behaviour of others, and even contained vestigial components, that had use at some point but lost it by now (comparable to for instance the appendix with humans).

Ludmila Rodrigues found out through her collaboration with scientists from different science groups  that views on tipping points and resilience differed greatly amongst different fields. Instead of including all these views in her original idea, she changed her focus to how we construct knowledge. She concluded knowledge exists out of layers, that pile up and erode. She visually presented this by altering different books (on science, art, history) to a certain tipping point, using a laser cutter. She showed these altered books, and her own book she created in this project about knowledge and tipping points, to an interested audience on 31 October.

Apart from their own projects and presentations, both Williams and Rodrigues took part in other 100 year activities. Rodrigues conducted an audience participation experiment during the symposium ‘Earth Futures’, creating waves and disturbances by passing objects in different directions.  Williams won the ‘Pitch Night’ and spoke on TEDx Wageningen University about how sometimes quitting something can help you become more successful. 

Right now, artists Gionata Gatto and Erik Overmeire & Kasia Molga are still working on the project Creative Innovation. Their final presentations will be respectively 22 and 29 November.