Art Makes Science: Making Visible the Invisible

Presenters: Jacob Armas, Mara Elise Peasley, Cortelle Pletcher, Morgan Janes

Faculty Mentor: Robert Voelker-Morris, Julie Voelker-Morris

Presentation Type: Creative Work 9 (GSH 117 Corridor)

Primary Research Area: Fine/Performance Arts

Twelve students participated in a First-Year Program seminar, Art Meets Science: Making Visible the Invisible, during Winter 2016. Throughout the seminar, students examined ways in which images, whether of the human body or the universe, are visually and artistically represented in public spaces. They further explored how such imagery tells us stories about our lives related to science. Students came to understand that, when placed within artistic contexts, scientific images change meaning over time and become part of our visual culture. Each student researched and analyzed a specific artist and area of scientific influence in that artist’s work. From this research, a final paper and online formal visual presentation was developed. Overarching findings and conclusions from this creative research process included the students discovering the implications of their individual research bias in the presentation of both scientific data as well as larger scientific and artistic philosophical arguments. Specifically, they better understood the abstraction of articulating physical, biological, astronomical and technological phenomena. Select research and artistic presentation of student work will be presented during this open session.