University of Idaho Visualizing Science

We have dedicated Visualizing Science to

Paul Joyce, Professor of Mathematics and Dean of the College of Science, who died in a car accident in 2016.

Paul was a champion of interdisciplinary scholarship and,

in particular, the vision of bringing art and science together.

Preface

S HAUNA C OR R Y, IN T ER IM DEAN , C OL L EGE OF AR T & AR C HI T EC T UR E

B

y definition a university seeks to expand knowledge and spread understanding. At the

University of Idaho (UI), interdisciplinary research and collaboration are important to

fulfilling this mission. However, creating connectivity between disciplines across campus

can be a challenge. In 2015, UI launched the Vandal Ideas Project (VIP) grant to encourage collaborative work. In VIP’s inaugural year, the College of Art & Architecture was awarded

a grant to launch Visualizing Science—a true indication of the value that art and design bring

to a research university.

Of the 2015–2016 grant recipients, Visualizing Science is perhaps the most accessible to the

public. A number of things struck me about this project. First, the relationships that developed

between scientists and artists. Though the interdisciplinary teams were identified at the

outset, team members didn’t necessarily know each other, nor where their projects might lead.

By design, everyone had to be open to letting the process unfold with a willingness to explore

uncharted territory along the way. The collaboration between scientists and artists yielded a

palpable energy, evidence of seeing what was once familiar in a new light. Second, as a visual college rooted in design thinking, we are no strangers to communicating complex ideas.

The opportunity to immerse ourselves in the scientific research of our colleagues and then

work together to interpret their findings for public consumption is unique. It is our pride and pleasure to present Visualizing Science.

The college wishes to thank university leadership and the VIP selection committee for

making this collaboration possible. We also thank each of the scientists and artists who have

made Visualizing Science a memorable experience. You have expanded our collective understanding of important scientific research UI has contributed to the State of Idaho and produced

compelling works of art that weave into the fabric of our community for all to enjoy.

4

Curatorial Introduction S AL LY GR AVE S MAC HL IS AND R OGER R OWL E Y

T

he University of Idaho Prichard Art Gallery is pleased to present Visualizing Science.

The exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of the University’s

Vandal Ideas Project (VIP) grants program.

Funding sources and research structures require scientists to delineate their focus and

experimental methodologies in great detail to receive support. Artistic practice requires equal

focus on technical processes, but works toward a more ambiguous outcome. Practitioners of

science and art start with a set of concerns and questions. Their toolboxes may be different,

but both science and art require adaptive and creative minds to carry out their investigations.

Visualizing Science seeks to acknowledge that both approaches are valid and important.

We can learn something from each. The precision of the scientist and the open-ended inquiry

of the artist are not binary opposites. They invigorate each other. Some of the issues we face, such as climate change, are so complicated and frightening that much of the population

chooses to dismiss the science, regardless of facts, maps, graphs, or charts. Art and science,

working together, can help us understand what it means to be human and the many

complexities of our world. While scientists seek to convey knowledge through research and data, artists seek to change culture through their unique vision.

Experts in these seemingly divergent and incompatible disciplines actually have a

great deal of common ground, but their perspectives and vocabularies differ just enough

to produce a generative friction when they work together. The VIP participants have enriched

our intellectual community by acting upon a shared belief in the importance of inquiry

as a goal unto itself. Such inquisitiveness is essential as we engage with big ideas and the

complex challenges before us.

5

The Art of Science & the Science of Art S C O T T S L OVIC

The true artist, like the true scientist, is a researcher using materials and techniques to dig into the truth and meaning of the world… . — paul strand, the world on my doorstep: 1950–1976 (1994)

T

he arts operate on a different plane of understanding than the sciences, drawing ideas and information from the world, but then channeling that knowledge through the

crucible of artistic imagination to produce shapes and colors, and sometimes movement

or the suggestion of movement, that will in turn touch viewers on an emotional level.

While the Visualizing Science exhibit is not, strictly speaking, concerned with “data

visualization,” it does obviously involve making quantitative information and abstract scientific concepts visually accessible and engaging for audiences. In his article

“Beyond The Pie Chart,” Hunter Whitney writes, “While they may be beautiful to look at, many data visualizations can seem more like abstract paintings—esoteric imagery that

is only interesting or useful to a handful of people.” He argues that this “does not need to remain the case. We should unleash the power of these visualizations to make them useful

in the day-to-day world.”

If so, what is the usefulness of the scientific visualizations in this project? First and

foremost, these are works of art that express and pursue an intrinsic aesthetic appeal.

Beyond this, these acts of visualization ask fundamental questions about the transferability of abstract ideas concerning the human body, evolutionary processes, nonhuman organisms,

social and biological relationships, ecology, and numerical information to visual and tangible

forms. Implicit in such acts of transformation is the question, Might we think differently

about the ideas and information that triggered the artistic process after we’re able to view

the work of art and contemplate how the artist has interpreted the original information? Again and again, the scientists who have participated in Visualizing Science have reported that the

experience of seeing their work transformed into art has altered their own understanding of the

very phenomena they’ve been studying.

6

In his article about data visualization, Whitney suggests that “There are good reasons to

be skeptical [about representing data visually], because a strong visual image may give a false sense of meaning or validity to information that is fundamentally f lawed.” The works of art

represented in this exhibit seem, from my perspective, to be more exploratory than

confirmational. If they validate the ideas of the scientists, they do so by expressing

fascination with essential questions—How do physiological form and function relate to each other? Why don’t we pay more attention to the roles of almost invisible insects in the

ecosystem and the food production process? How should we feel about the presence of fire

in natural and cultural systems?—rather than by driving home a point. The “meaning”

that comes from these visualization processes is a meaning rooted in noticing aspects of the universe that had previously been unnoticed, or perhaps played down, and in feeling the

gravitational pull of our attention as it becomes hooked to scientific methodologies, concepts, and language by way of eye-catching artistic renderings.

Noticing and paying attention to phenomena that we had not previously thought about is

an important first step, but there is also a depth of understanding that accrues as a result

of adding new sensory dimensions to information about these phenomena. In Envisioning

Information, Edward R. Tufte writes, “the world portrayed on our information displays is

caught up in the two-dimensionality of the endless f latlands of paper and video screen

…Escaping this flatland is the essential task of envisioning information—for all the interesting worlds (physical, biological, imaginary, human) that we seek to understand are inevitably and happily

multivariate in nature. Not flatlands” (12). So think of the works of art in Visualizing Science, even those that employ two-dimensional media (such as painting and print-making), as efforts to

“escape f latland,” to inject multidimensionality and layeredness—depth—into information.

Or, rather, to draw the intrinsic multidimensionality out of information that might have been imagined or articulated previously as being merely two-dimensional.

Beyond demonstrating Tufte’s imperative of escaping f latland, the works in this exhibit

also operate, intuitively, by employing other key strategies that he describes in Envisioning

Information. For instance, we see vivid examples of what he calls “small multiple designs” in works that represent side-by-side microbiomes or small numbers of aphids and ladybugs

7

or several plotted equations or sections of ocular nerve sheathes. As Tufte explains, “Information slices are positioned within the eyespan, so that viewers make comparisons at a glance—

uninterrupted visual reasoning. Consistency of design puts the emphasis on changes in data” (67).

In addition to the clusters of repeated, slightly altered phenomena exhibited here, many of

the works make powerful use of color. Tufte reports that the human eye “is exquisitely sensitive to color variations,” but he explicitly cautions against the overuse of color, claiming

that “more than 20 or 30 colors frequently produce not diminishing but negative returns” (81).

Building upon concepts from cartographic theorist Eduard Imhof, Tufte emphasizes the use

of color as a way of underlining key ideas, putting them in relief: “color spots against a light

gray or muted field highlight and italicize data, and also help weave an overall harmony” (83).

Finally, Tufte points to the challenges and the essential importance of conveying

narrative information even when working in two or three dimensions—or, rather, imbuing otherwise f lat and static expressions of information with time and space, with story, in order

to capture the true meaning of phenomena and the attention of viewers. Investing data such as route maps and time schedules with narrative, he suggests, is “at the heart of envisioning

data” (101). In perceiving change over time (story) embedded even in several juxtaposed visual

moments, “We come to appreciate how the underlying designs bring about and enable

the joy growing from comprehension of complexity, from finding pattern and form amidst commotion” (115). These are fundamental benefits from discerning narrative even in static

visual representations of information. Many of the art works that have emerged from

Visualizing Science invite viewers to walk through large, multifaceted exhibits, experiencing

“story” through the process of considering how the different components fit together.

Other times, as in the case of “κόσμος,” a simple streak of green paint amidst a display of gray and black images implies a living story unfolding in the work.

8

T

he works in this exhibit have come from conversations between eight artists and

seven scientists, all faculty members

at the University of Idaho. But this is only

the tip of the iceberg of potential collaborations.

or forty-five minutes. The works were rapidly

coming together at the time of the interviews,

but none was finished. In some cases, the

scientists had not yet seen the art, so it was

exciting to watch their reactions to how their

The success of Visualizing Science indicates

research was being envisioned by their

Perhaps university scientists will also be

biologist James Foster put it in describing

grant proposals, understanding that art has the

representation of his work on microbiomes,

the need for similar projects in the future. inspired to write the arts explicitly into new

artistic colleagues. As computational

painter Nishiki Sugawara-Beda’s

potential not only to help with communication “When you look at that and finally see a of scientific ideas but to disrupt and startle

the process of scientific discovery, deepening and clarifying the science.

The pairings of artists and scientists began

semi-randomly at a May 12, 2016, meeting

in the Prichard Art Gallery in Moscow, Idaho.

Nine months passed between forming the

pattern, it’s just boom! Something goes off

in your mind. That’s not very precise, but it

shows that things are related to each other,

yet still different.”

Several ideas came through strongly

during my conversations with the seven

teams and with project directors

teams and the opening of the exhibit at the

Sally Graves Machlis and Roger Rowley:

of the active collaboration occurred during

more than simply translating or

Prichard on February 10, 2017, and much

First, Visualizing Science entails much

the five-month period leading up to the

transferring technical scientific ideas

process have also contributed to the

there may be a “science communication”

In December 2016 and January 2017, I visited

to call this a “science interpretation” project.

exhibit. But the stress and uncertainty of this

and language into layperson’s terms. While

extraordinary excitement among participants. component here, it would be more accurate

with each team, often in the studio space

The artists’ imaginations have made new

We spoke on camera for about half an hour

processes conveyed by their partners.

where the art projects were happening.

meaning from the scientific information and

9

Second, the artists and scientists have

about her experience titled “Hyperelliptic

worked together in impressively thorough and

Threshold Noise: A Mathematician’s

and conversations, often proposing and then

resonates to her colleague Mike Sonnichsen’s

engaged ways. They’ve had numerous meetings

Perspective,” in which she particularly

scrapping dozens of possible avenues of

multistep process of printmaking:

come to fruition in this exhibit. Even the

to mind the mathematical idea of a function… .

collaboration before settling on paths that have “Watching Mike use stencils to print brought discarded ideas, which have sometimes been

Given any two collections of objects (called

and beautiful. But what especially impresses

sets to the other so that for any given input

recorded in sketches and models, are fascinating me is the intensity of the conversations the

there is an output… . In this way each stencil

sometimes fueled by lots of coffee. The works

set of inks to the set of images.” She noticed,

artists and scientists were having together,

might be thought of as a function from the

in the gallery are not simply artistic echoes of

too, that “Printmakers also establish

Third, there is a tremendous amount of

remind me of the axioms that govern

science, but the result of true partnerships.

creativity required by the best science and

protocols for their work… . These protocols mathematical inquiry.” Each of the teams

a tremendous level of technical expertise

came to recognize analogous thinking across

these—the beauty of science, if you will, and

in a fire ecologist’s email language and the

here. Rather than viewing their concepts and

calculating, and fabricating sculptural molds

needed to produce outstanding art. Both of

the technical know-how of art—are on display methodologies as emerging from separate

disciplines—even, as C.P. Snow would have said, from disparate “cultures”—the artists

and scientists who participated in this project

disciplines, such as the inherent poetry

engineer’s precision that underlies planning,

and producing delicate ceramic objects.

And finally, I wanted to mention that all

seven of the teams emphasized how much fun

they had during these collaborations.

quickly recognized the common ground

The interviews with project participants that

Jennifer Johnson-Leung has written an essay

and Nathan Romans were punctuated by

they shared with their collaborators.

10

sets) a function is a mapping from one of the

I conducted with videographers Kyle Howerton

laughter. The artists and scientists sometimes

Visualizing Science clearly seems to tap the

were clearly engaged with the terminology

scientists and artists.

finished each other’s sentences. The artists and the ideas of the science, and the

scientists were delighted and sometimes

creative energy shared by all of the participating Biologist and author Edward O. Wilson

has written idealistically about the potential

almost awestruck by the beauty of the art

“consilience” between art and science in the

conversations. Many of the teams expressed

of unified learning,” he calls it (3). The work

that was in the process of emerging from these their hope to continue working together after this initial project.

What is the ultimate purpose of Visualizing

Science? Perhaps on the most fundamental

level, this collaborative effort reveals that

science and art—indeed, individual scientists

and artists—have much to say to each other.

Simply put, this work begins to reveal the art of science and the science of art, the deep

kinships inherent within disciplines that are housed in separate university buildings and

that may sometimes even seem antagonistic toward each other. In the book How Science

Works, Stephen K. Jenkins finds unity

mind of an individual thinker—“the dream displayed here demonstrates the power—and

the sheer delight—not of going it alone, but of consilient teamwork.

R EF ER ENC E S Jenkins, Stephen K. How Science Works: Evaluating Evidence in Biology and Medicine. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

Johnson-Leung, Jennifer. “Hyperelliptic Threshold Noise: A Mathematician’s Perspective.” Unpublished paper.

Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures. 1959. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.

Strand, Paul. The World on My Doorstep: 1950-1976.

Millerton, NY: Aperture, 1994. Print.

Tufte, Edward R. Envisioning Information.

Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 1990. Print.

Whitney, Hunter. “ Beyond The Pie Chart.” UX Magazine (June 4, 2010). Retrieved from web 10 February 2017.

Wilson, Edward O. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge.

New York: Knopf, 1998. Print.

between the arts and sciences in the “creative spark” that exists within both realms of

thought. “Scientists and artists share a passion

for seeing the world in new ways,” he writes,

“for making novel connections between

familiar things,” even if “the creative process is manifested in diverse ways” (188).

11

The hope is that we can gain insight into some fundamental principles or functions of muscles and tendons that we can apply more broadly to other species to understand the evolutionary process.

— C R AIG M c GOWAN , A S S OC IA T E P R OF E S S OR OF BIOL OGIC AL S C IENC E S

Val Carter C R A I G M c G O W A N

14

W

hen torqued just so, cold steel rods take on organic shapes —they become positively biological, not representing an actual animal but drawing from that world. This art requires viewers to become touchers, engaged with the work’s mysterious muscles, tendons, and bones—its elasticity.

What is the function of this living structure?

Craig McGowan explains that the purpose

The gallery visitor grapples with the metallic

fundamental principles or functions of muscles

downward and propelling the donut-shaped

of his research is to “gain insight into some

structure, plunging one handle or the other

and tendons that we can apply more broadly

weight upward and over the steel arc that

process.” The sculptural creatures invented

the material bend and spring? What can

to other species to understand the evolutionary

links the two animalesque beings. How does

by Val Carter do not belong to any particular

we learn about movement and the possibility

instead representing a skeletal intensity that

system made of metal and silicone, made of

species (though they look faintly reptilian),

could belong to almost any kind of animal

possessing both structure and elasticity. “Pivot”

of movement by contemplating this living art and science?

literally invites viewer participation—it is

meant to be touched, played with, tested.

15

Initial study model used to test the concept.

16

All metal parts were custom fabricated. The leather handlebar wrap was hand-sewn. Using resistance training silicone tubing for the ‘tendons’ allowed for great flexibility and strength. A variety of climbing knots were employed in making the linkages.

VAL C AR T ER

is Senior Instructor and Shop Technician at the University of Idaho, where he teaches sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. Val earned his B.F.A. in painting and printmaking at Idaho in 1994 and his M.F.A. in painting at the University of Arizona in 1997. He specializes in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and design foundations.

C R AIG M c GOWAN is Associate Professor in the Department

of Biological Sciences and the W WAMI Medical Education Program. His research interests are centered on the relationships between the musculoskeletal morphology of terrestrial vertebrate animals (including humans) and the biomechanics and neural control of locomotor performance.

By applying downward force to either of the mechanisms, the shuttle spring is thrust up into the air along a curved steel rod.

Two people can thus play a game of passing the shuttle back and forth continuously.

17

The beginning of the story really was like Are You My Mother? We played around with the biological idea of family, and the story just evolved…like phage will do.

— HOL LY WIC HMAN , UNIVER SI T Y DIS T INGUIS HED P R OF E S S OR OF BIOL OGIC AL S C IENC E S

Greg Turner-Rahman H O L L Y W I C H M A N

20

B

acteriophages (or phages) are viruses that replicate themselves by infecting bacteria, but phages (pronounced “fājes”) can also be produced in a lab. Inspired by colorful beadwork that personifies phages, this picture book for children displays the role of human scientists in creating phages and portrays “the little phage” as a hero.

And what might such a hero seek to do?

Another stereotype this project may help

children’s book author Greg Turner-Rahman

artists perform their beautiful alchemy in

In this collaborative narrative, designer and and biologist Holly Wichman imagined a

to topple is that scientists do science, while studios that smell of clay and wood and paint.

young phage on a quest to find his creator

Much of the inspiration for The Little Phage

natural for the phage to be male). Wichman

beadwork that represents viruses and bacteria

like Are You My Mother? We played around

Meanwhile, Turner-Rahman’s art for this

stor y just evolved…like phage will do.”

process of digitizing the beaded characters and

(for some unaccountable reason, it just felt

says, “The beginning of the story really was

with the biological idea of family, and the If the main character is male, the scientist

who produced the protagonist is, significantly,

arose from Wichman’s lovely and intricate

in colorful, whimsical, greatly amplified forms. project occurred through the highly technical

bringing them to life through digital animation.

female. One of the implicit aims of the narrative

is to topple the notion that laboratory science is a male domain.

21

Creating a somewhat recognizable and fun world that doesn’t neglect the science it presents was essential for crafting a compelling STEM-related story for younger audiences.

22

The result of the collaboration is a picture book dummy that will be shared with potential publishers.

GR EG T UR NER -R AHMAN

is Associate Professor and Interim Program Head of Virtual Technology and Design. He is the author and illustrator of two published children’s books and teaches courses in art and design theory with specific interests in visual culture and virtual communities.

HOL LY WIC HMAN

is University Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho, focusing on ecology, evolutionary biology, and molecular biology. She works specifically with viruses.

23

I’m trying to work through this idea of what is an individual when the individual is a composite of overlapping communities. The art is helping me visualize those relationships.

— J AME S A. F O S T ER , UNIVER SI T Y DIS T INGUIS HED P R OF E S S OR OF BIOL OGIC AL S C IENC E S

Nishiki Sugawara-Beda J A M E S A .   F O S T E R

26

H

uman subcultures and biological organisms exist as intersecting, overlapping communities—in a word, as “microbiomes.”

The sumi ink markings in this work suggest a pattern of layered interactions with no ontological hierarchy or precedence.

The κόσμος (kosmos) itself flows as a vast, interwoven conversation.

“I’m trying to work through this idea of what

Just as the κόσμος itself can be construed as a

a composite of overlapping communities,”

paintings suggests, through metonymy, layers

is an individual when the individual is

says James A. Foster. “The art is helping me

to visualize those relationships.” This

vast complex of interactions, this set of

and layers of connections. The great

nineteenth-century scientist Alexander von

collaboration began with a conversation in

Humboldt wrote in his masterpiece Kosmos

diagrams of microbiomes on the white

recognize unity in diversity, …to judge single

Foster’s lab, the scientist sketching rough

board. Nishiki Sugawara-Beda then picked

that the goal of physical science is “to

phenomena separately without surrendering

up her paint brushes and in the following

their bulk.” These paintings seek to convey,

shapes, each panel appearing to be in

the multiplicity of their interactions.

months produced six panels of organic-looking

conversation with the others and the shapes

to visualize, both individual phenomena and

within the panels appearing to move and intersect with the others.

27

After carefully selecting the correct paper, the first layer of paint is applied, followed by the painting and pouring of additional layers.

28

NIS HIKI S UGAWAR A-BEDA

was born and raised in Japan and immigrated to the U.S. as a young adult, later earning her M.F.A. at Indiana University. She creates artwork that deals with the examination of various cultures. An Assistant Professor at the University of Idaho, her interests include painting, Japanese calligraphy, and sculptural installation.

J AME S A. F O S T ER is University Distinguished Professor in the

Biological Sciences department, focusing specifically on ecology, computational biology, and bioinformatics. He has extensive experience working collaboratively with biologists, statisticians, mathematicians, and computer scientists.

29

If people can reflect on what they see here and have further conversations about fire, we’ ll be immensely successful.

— P ENEL OP E MOR GAN , P R OF E S S OR OF F OR E S T, R ANGEL AND, AND FIR E S C IENC E S

Stacy Isenbarger P E N E L O P E M O R G A N

32

I

mmediately after a burn, the fallen trees seem nothing more than a stack of blackened sticks. How can art help us to appreciate the resilient fabric of forest ecology, the return of birdsong and f lowing water and green, growing things?

How can art help to foster our conversations about loss and awe, about living with fire?

“To Find (in) Words” offers an ecosystem of

Morgan says, “If people can ref lect on what

among different features of the installation,

about fire, we’ll be immensely successful.”

variable conditions, and the visitor wanders

they see here and have further conversations

contemplating the dynamic relationships

The complexity and approachability of the

science and art. Just as the conversation

questions and discussion. How do the pieces

between fire, forests, and culture and between

various elements of this installation invite

between Penelope Morgan and mixed-media

fit together? And how does one navigate

in the woods, through a burned forest, the

In a sense, these are the underlying issues

artist Stacy Isenbarger began with a walk

galler y visitor is invited to walk through a burning forest, ablaze with orange velvet,

through the labyrinth of these relationships? of Visualizing Science.

punctuated by charred snags, where green

life is already beginning to emerge, the

endurance of trees is marked in charcoal rings

on the walls, and human efforts to understand

the complex processes of fire are recorded

through words inserted among those rings.

33

Materials include wood, steel, various fabrics, seeds, and paint. The orange crushed velvet, hand-stitched embellishments, and finger-knitted cord express veneration for the lines fire makes in the landscape and the unexpected beauty it in turn fosters.

34

Hand-cut upholstery fabrics and crocheted doilies hang together to suggest possible found comforts of new growth.

S T AC Y IS ENBAR GER

is Associate Professor of Art + Design, teaching in the areas of foundations and sculpture. She is the President of Foundation in Art: Theory and Education (FATE).

Through interplay of media and iconography, she develops art works that welcome v iewers to consider both the power and shortcomings of language, environmental judgements, and shared personal narratives.

P ENEL OP E MOR GAN

is Professor of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, and an AFE Certified Senior Fire Ecologist.

Her research focuses on fire ecology and management as well as landscape ecology and dynamics.

Seek, a small charcoal and paint piece, was the basis for the larger charcoal wall drawing.

35

We’ve kept track of a few themes: the miraculous beauty, if you will, of the individual organism, and the abundance and importance of them in the landscape—and the connection between that and food security.

— S ANF OR D EIGENBR ODE , UNIVER SI T Y DIS T INGUIS HED P R OF E S S OR OF EN T OMOL OG Y

Delphine Keim & Sally Graves Machlis S A N F O R D E I G E N B R O D E

38

H

ave you ever been struck by the awesome beauty of a swarm of aphids? Ever wondered about their niche in the agro-ecological system? Inspired by mathematical models of insect swarms buffeted by minute turbulence, this project combines painting and graphic design to suggest the presence of barely perceptible insects in Palousescapes we view every day in northern Idaho. We can be stunned at any moment by something we think we understand.

This work is the product of a three-way

Tiny, metallic-painted milagros representing

Sanford Eigenbrode, “the miraculous beauty

accurate proportions cluster on the rims of

conversation about such themes as, to quote

ladybugs and aphids in approximately

of the individual aphid, the abundance and

bowls, implying a sacred relationship

and the connection between such abundance

Diaphanous curtains with cut-out insect

and painter Sally Graves Machlis have employed

And the background paintings emphasize

the one and the many and the questioning

insects, plants, and humans, with the adjectives

importance of aphids in the landscape— and food security.” Designer Delphine Keim diverse media to represent the meaning of

bet ween insects and repositories of food. shapes hint at the barely visible ubiquity of bugs.

the geographical context for this drama of

of what roles this minute-yet-abundant

“prolific,” “adaptable,” and “resilient”

this part of the world, where so much attention

the ideas tested and pondered by entomology

organism plays in the human food system in

is devoted to agriculture.

reverberating from the landscape, telegraphing and agricultural science.

39

40

Aphid and ladybug milagros were 3D printed, painted, and nailed into lacquered birchwood bowls.

DEL P HINE KEIM

is Associate Professor of Art + Design at the University of Idaho, where she coordinates the graphic design area and leads students in outreach projects, practicing design and collaboration in the community context. A Commissioner on the Idaho Commission on the Arts, her outreach and scholarly activities include design with clients, exhibition, and writing about design.

S AL LY GR AVE S MAC HL IS

is Professor of Art Education and Professor and Program Head of Art + Design at the University of Idaho. She teaches art education courses and exhibits her mixed-media works internationally.

S ANF OR D EIGENBR ODE

Aphid garlands were developed on the computer, laser cut from polyester organza, and installed in the galley on monofilament.

is University Distinguished Professor of Entomology in the Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences in the University of Idaho’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He studies the ecology of insect pests and directed the just-completed $20 million Regional Approaches to Climate Change in Pacific Northwest Agriculture (REACCH).

41

The objects that we began with are the plots of certain hyperelliptic curves over finite fields.

They have a natural line of symmetry because they’re equations of the form y 2=f(x).

— J ENNIF ER JOHN S ON-L EUNG , A S S OC IA T E P R OF E S S OR OF MA T HEMA T IC S

Mike Sonnichsen J E N N I F E R J O H N S O N - L E U N G

44

C

an you believe that math suffers from a communication problem? Polynomial equations can generate a plot over any field, and plots in turn can be made visual. These prints deploy layers of color on the abstract void of a black background, bringing numerical plots into tangible form.

Visually arresting symmetries emerge from pixelated noise.

First came the equations, but very quickly,

But do the equations speak to us in color?

in the mind of the mathematician, these

Do they offer visual relief, a sense of foreground

plots assume a colorful vibrancy in hands of

artist provides these qualities so vital to

abstractions become plots, and then the

and background? The imagination of the

printmaker Mike Sonnichsen. It’s a process

human attention and meaning. The simple

dimension, to a highly abstract form of

and the hyper-vivid paint, especially

of adding intensity and depth, a sensory

use of a black background is essential here—

information. “The objects we have,” says

when illuminated with ultraviolet light,

of certain hyperelliptic curves over finite fields.

color to pure thought.

Jennifer Johnson-Leung, “started as plots

They have a natural line of symmetry because

accentuates the surprising application of

they’re equations of the form y 2=f(x).”

45

Hyperelliptic Threshold Noise Series, #1

Hyperelliptic Threshold Noise Series, #2

Hyperelliptic Threshold Noise Series, #3

Hyperelliptic Threshold Noise Series, #4

46

MIKE S ONNIC H S EN

is Assistant Professor of Art + Design at the University of Idaho. He has an M.F.A. in printmaking from the University of New Mexico, and his art production involves printmaking approaches and techniques as well as experimental photography and light-driven work.

J ENNIF ER J OHN S ON-L EUNG , who completed her Ph.D. in

number theory at CalTech in 2005, is currently Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Idaho. Her present research explores the modularit y of hy perelliptic cur ves of genus 2, twisting Siegel modular forms, and special values of L-functions.

A hyperelliptic curve plot aligned to the paper corners and printed four times appears as one color layer on the white sheet. Multiple layers of plots and colors compose the “in progress� prints seen on the black paper.

47

From my standpoint as an engineer, there’s pretty much no difference in how we interacted than in one of my regular projects.

— BR Y N MAR T IN , A S SIS T AN T P R OF E S S OR OF BIOL OGIC AL ENGINEER ING

J. Casey Doyle B R Y N M A R T I N

50

N

ASA wants to send people to Mars, but they might be blind when they arrive. Many astronauts experience serious and permanent eye damage in space. Idaho researchers, such as biological engineer Bryn Martin, are developing engineering-based image analysis methods to shed light on MRI measurements collected before and after space f light.

“Nebulous” displays this phenomenon precisely.

Artist J. Casey Doyle used Rhino 3D software

As I spoke with the sculptor and the engineer

sheathes and eyeballs exactly to scale. The

model of t wo red eyeballs and a v-shaped

to design molds for casting porcelain nerve

finished segments of nerve sheath, arrayed

in Doyle’s studio, Martin held a small plastic

nerve sheath in front of his face, fascinated by

in short pieces on the f loor between the two

the size and perfection of the model. Looking

that occur during the milling process on the

sculptural representations sheds light on the

large, pale eyeballs, reveal the layering marks

at both small 3D models and enlarged

3-axis CNC machine. The process itself is

wondrous physiology of the eye and on what

recognizable to an engineer who understands

standpoint as an engineer,” says Martin, “there’s

visibly embedded in the finished sculpture,

how 3D printing occurs. The layering marks,

can go awry during space f light. “From my

prett y much no difference in how we

holdovers from the making of the molds,

interacted than in one of my regular projects.”

The two porcelain eyes are indented in back

him to capture essential qualities of his

are evidence of the work’s technical precision. The sculptor’s finesse as an engineer enabled and the first slice after that is enlarged,

precisely the kind of damage that occurs in

colleague’s research.

astronauts’ eyes.

51

3D printing of 1:1 scale of healthy human eyes.

52

Dividing and scaling eyeball segments in Rhino for export to CNC milling.

J. C A S E Y DO Y L E exhibits his work both nationally and

internationally. His art combines interests in craft, sculpture, ceramics, metals & jewelry, video, gender, and the concept of play. He holds a B.F.A. and a B.A. from New Mexico State University and an M.F.A. from The Ohio State University.

He is currently Associate Professor of A rt + Design at the University of Idaho.

BR Y N MAR T IN

is Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering and runs the Neurophysiological Imaging and Modeling Laboratory (niml.org). His research mission is to become a leader in the study of the cerebrospinal f luid (CSF) system in relation to neurological disorders and to contribute to the advancement of CSF-related technologies.

Milled MDF eyeball segments used to create plaster molds for pressing the final forms in porcelain.

53

ADDI T IONAL C ON T R IBU T OR S S H AU NA C OR R Y

, Inter im Dean of the Col lege of A r t & Architecture at the University of Idaho, earned an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. focusing on Environment and Behavior from Washington State University. She has taught Interior Design at Idaho for fifteen years, focusing on Universal Design and issues of social justice in the built environment.

DAVE GO T T WAL D

, the exhibit designer and catalog designer for Visualizing Science, is Assistant Professor of Art + Design at the University of Idaho. He teaches experiential design and interaction design, and his research explores the theming of consumer spaces within the built environment.

R OGER R OWL E Y

has an M.F.A. from Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York, and a B.F.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to becoming the director of the U I Prichard Art Gallery, he served as Curator of Exhibitions/ Col lections Manager for the Museum of A rt / WSU. He has curated or organized more than 100 exhibitions.

S C O T T S L OVIC , the project writer for Visualizing Science,

is Professor of Literature and Environment, Professor of Natural Resources and Societ y, and Chair of the English Department at the University of Idaho. A leading scholar in the field of ecocriticism, he frequently publishes books and articles about ecocriticism, information management, and environmental aesthetics.

C R EDI T S ©2017 by Prichard Art Gallery 414 /416 South Main Street | Moscow, Idaho 83843 prichardart.org All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system—except by a reviewer or a scholar who may quote brief passages in a magazine, a newspaper, or an academic publication—without written permission from the publisher and author.

IN T E R VIE WING / WR I T ING / E DI T ING Scott Slovic

IN T E R VIE W VIDE OGR A P H Y Kyle Howerton and Nathan Romans

P HO T OGR AP H Y Dave Gottwald, Melissa Hartley, Roger Rowley, and the participating artists and scientists.

EXHIBI T DE S IGN / C A T AL OG DE S IGN Dave Gottwald

P R ODUC T ION University of Idaho Creative Services and Print Production

GAL L ER Y S T AF F This project has been made possible by a grant from the Vandal Ideas Project (VIP) supporting interdisciplinary projects and fostering a campus culture of collaboration.

Additional sponsorship has come from the College of Art & Architecture, students of the Universit y of Idaho, and the business and individual Friends of the Prichard Art Gallery.

Educational outreach programs sponsored by the Idaho Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a grant from US Bank.

director Roger Rowley, assistant director Nara Woodland, volunteer docents Louise Colson, Alicia Cunningham, Jen Elliott, Jenny Kostroff, Kristin LeVier, Heidi Linehan, Lauren McCleary, and Sandra Stoops.

P R IC HAR D F R IEND S BOAR D Morgan Gardner, Keely Garrity, David Giese, Heidi Linehan, James Mammone, Amy McMurtry, Elizabeth Prasil, James Reid, Gail Siegel, Sandra Stoops, and Joan Swensen.

S P EC IAL T HANK S President Chuck Staben, Provost John Wiencek, the Vandal Ideas Project Selection Committee, Holly Funk, Stuart Hierschbiel, Steve Hilkin, Ellen McKenzie, Kim Osborne, and Jay Pengilly.

Adobe Caslon, designed for adobe in 1990 by carol twombly, i n d u s t r i a l by swfte international. printed in the u.s. a.

typeset in and

54