Tiago Photography

I was invited to join Rise Art today, and was inspired by two artists in particular.
Yusuke Araki
Yusuki says of his drawings:
"Line is all linking. Please imagine the line is string. When you pick the string, it seems to be one hoop."

When the image is viewed up close, the individual lines are evident, and the line is continuous.
I am interested in the finite yet boundless properties of Yusuke Araki's drawings.

Repetitive drawing has the potential to look laboured, but these drawings look expressive and organic.
Alastair T. Willey
Alastair's work could be compared to the impossible shapes imagined by M. C. Escher.
Escher experimented with optical illusions and the illustration of the Möbius strip, to create a seemingly finite yet boundless shape.

Alastair takes photographs on a 35mm film, and processes the images digitally. These works are compared to follies: the images look like architecture but have no architectural use.
Nick Kaplony says of Alastairs work:
"I love how these images compact and overlay architectural fragments into forms which are reminiscent of microscopic or molecular structures."
I can see what Nick Kaplony means, the geometric clustered nature of these images look like they could be 3-dimensional interpretations of molecular diagrams.
It's interesting that by creating digital architectural-looking 2-dimensional sculptures, the artist has evoked molecular structure as well.

Labels: Alastair T Willey, Art, Digital, Drawing, Finite Yet Boundless, Geometry, M.C. Escher, Molecular, Rise Art, Science, Sculpture, Structure, Yusuke Araki

Jamie Mills is a recent first class graduate in Illustration, and has a great portfolio on his website.
From the website, it is evident that Jamie takes a strong interest in nature, structure, pattern and formations.
For example, the large circular drawing above was taken from a photograph of dust taken under a microscope.
As an artist myself, I am fascinated by "roundness" so I was drawn to these two illustrations.
I have similar themes within my own artwork, so it is interesting to see these similar thoughts being interpreted in an illustrative way.
Please check out Jamie Mill's website, other than observing patterns in the natural world, he also has a beautiful set of illustrations inspired by endangered animals.

Labels: Art, Artist, Circularity, Endangered Animals, Illustration, Jamie Mills, Universality Of Roundness

On Friday night, the Leeds College Of Art "Ready Or Not, Here We Come" Degree show opened for a private view.
I have been studying in the BA Fine Art department, so I knew how that the Fine Art degree show was coming along, but it's always a great surprise to see all of the finished work from other courses.
In Art & Design : Interdisciplinary, I was really impressed by Beverly Cottrell's "Paper Lab", a science laboratory made entirely from cardboard.
The attention to detail is amazing...

During this project, Beverley worked with high school children, who gave feedback on her Paper Lab project. Beverley says of the placement:
"Making my Paper Lab playful and colourful reflects on the naivety of learning, and interacting with the exhibit promotes the curiosity of learning."
I think that this is a great way to bring the Art & Science fusion to a younger audience. This theory was proven when I asked my 13 year old brother to identify his favourite piece of work from the entire Leeds College Of Art degree show! (My little brother is also a science nerd, it seems to run in the family).
If you want to see more of Beverley Cottrell's Paper Lab, please click here to see her blog which covers the progress from start to finish.

Labels: Art, Beverley Cottrell, Cardboard, Laboratory, Leeds College Of Art, Paper Lab, Science

In 1960, Roman Opalka began on a journey, painting the numbers from 1 to Infinity.
Opalka once said that he would be happy to reach the number 7,777,777 which is a number he said had "profound meaning".
Unfortunately, Roman Opalka died on the 6th of August 2011 and is thought to have reached just short of 6,000,000.
Opalka's work essentially illustrates the passing of time, stroke by stroke, day after day, year after year.
The artist described his work as a journey "a philosophical and spiritual image of the progression of time and of life and death�.

Time as we live it and as we create it embodies our progressivedisappearance; we are at the same time alive and in the face of death�that is the mystery of all living beings. The consciousnessof this inevitable disappearance broadens our experiences withoutdiminishing our joy. There is always the omnipresent idea ofnature, of its ebb and flow of life. This essence of reality can be universally understood; it is not only mine but can be commonlyshared in our unus mundus. (Trad. Mark Selwyn) Roman Opalka - "Rencontre par la séparation", AFAA, Paris, 1987
Time is a concept we can all relate to, most of us have witnessed a clock ticking and celebrated a New Year. However, Opalka took it upon himself to show this passing of time very physically.



The concept of infinity and endlessness is a terrifying prospect for me, personally. As a child, I was introduced to the concept of endless time and space, and the idea blew my tiny little mind! I could not think about anything related to space for a long time without feeling anxious.
However, in the last year of my undergraduate degree, I decided to confront my fear in a similar way to Yayoi Kusama, through repetitive art practice. Compared to Roman Opalka, my efforts were puny, but I spent two months repetitively winding wool to create a large chain sculpture.
The repetitive winding put me in to a calm state of madness leaving my brain feeling a little fried after each winding session, I could not keep up the project for longer than two months and was glad to see the back of it.
It is therefore, astounding to me, that an artist could dedicate over fifty years to continually painting numbers.
The Telegraph wrote an obituary for Roman Opalka which you can read here.

Labels: Algorithms, Anxiety, Arrow Of Time, Art, Endlessness, Entropy, Eternity, Infinity, Mathematics, Melanie K, Numbers, Painting, Philosophy, Roman Opalka, Time, Yayoi Kusama

When reading Hubble: A Journey Through Space and Time the other day, I was astonished to discover that that a bubble nebula exists in the constellation Cassiopeia.

Source
The bubble has formed due to extreme stellar winds and radiation from a nearby star which is 10 times more massive than our sun. This means that the bubble itself is six light years across, that is one big bubble!
I was excited by this discovery, as I have been working with soap bubbles in my art work for about a year now. I'm interested in the universality of roundness from the micro to the macro, so of course, bubbles fascinated me for this reason.
This is a photogram I made from blowing soap bubbles on to photo-sensitive paper and exposing the paper to light for 4 seconds. The result looks astonishingly like a far-away galaxy.

I have made lots of posts on soap bubbles in art and science, here is a directory of bubble-related entries:
"Bubbles" / "A Child's World" by Sir John Everett Millais
How To Make A Photogram With Soap Bubbles
Artist: Kim Pimmell / / Soap Bubbles & Ferrofluid
Artist: Jane Thomas // Soap Bubble Experimentation
Artist: Richard Heeks // Soap Bubble Planet Photographs
Nature.com // Hurricanes On A Soap Bubble
Do Bubbles Freeze? // Emmanuel Coupe
Living Inside Your Own Bubble
BBC: Bubbles In Space
Melanie K's Bubble Planet
Artist : Pery Burge // Inksplosions & Bubbles
Soap Bubble Popping In Slow Motion
Artist: Tomas Saraceno // Bubble Sculptures
Artist: Simon Thomas // Studies Of The Soap Bubble
Bubble-Smith Sterling Johnson

Labels: Art, Bubble, Bubble Directory, Bubbles, Emmanuel Coupe, Jane Thomas, Kim Pimmel, Melanie K, Ngc 7635, Photogram, Richard Heeks, Science, Soap, The Bubble Nebula, Tomas Saraceno, Universe

I'm a big fan of the every day soap bubble, so when I was introduced to Tomas Saraceno by Alicia Talikowska, I was naturally very excited.
Saraceno creates successful bubble-inspired sculptures, some of which are even big enough to enter!


Saraceno is inspired by naturally occuring formations:
"The biospheres of this work are inspired by careful scientific studies of e.g. the formation of clouds, soap bubbles and the geometric principles in spider webs." source
One of the sculptures inspired by spider webs is 14 Billions 2009.

Intriguing...

Labels: Art, Bubbles, Science, Sculpture, Spider, Tomas Saraceno, Webs

Currently, the artist duo Semiconductor have an exhibition at FACT Liverpool.
Semiconductor's latest artwork is a collection of videos called Worlds In The Making which explores geological patterns such as crystallization and volcanic activity.
The piece "Worlds In The Making" is the result of many years of work, collaborating with scientists from all over the world.
Kindly, Semiconductor have provided a preview of their exhibition on Vimeo:
Worlds in the Making - preview from Semiconductor on Vimeo.
Personally, I find Crystallised (2011) intriguing. Crystallised is a series of animations created by recording the sound of ice crystals, working out the algorithms of their formations and generating a digital animation based on the information. This was an extremely long process, as the software alone took six months to write!
This piece of work is incredibly interesting, because their research is re-contextualising science based art. The artists are not simply illustrating the work of scientists, nor are they trying to achieve a scientific discovery through arts based practise.
Gerhardt says of his work:
"Everyone is very familiar now with the very standard format of creating a narrative and a way of documenting science, and hopefully we're challenging this." source.

Labels: Algorithms, Art, Crystal, Crystallised, Crystallization, Fact Liverpool, Joe Gerhardt, Liverpool, Ruth Jarman, Science, Semiconductor, The Guardian, Volcanic, Volcano, Worlds In The Making

Brandon McConnell of Space Paintings . Com uses some unique spray painting techniques to create amazing imaginary visions from outer space.

Labels: Art, Artist, Brandon Mcconnell, Paint, Paintings Universe, Space, Spray, Video

Whilst studying Fine Art at Leeds College Of Art, I went along with my course friend to a few Leeds Psychogeography Group meetings.
Psychogeography is defined as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." source.
So, in other words, the study of environment and how it makes us feel. A mix of art and geography that can be both playful and academic.
The concept of psychogeography is important to an artist, as responding to a given environment is necessary for any working artist. For example; hanging work in a gallery, scoping out space for an installation, creating the right setting for video art.
If you'd like to practise Psychogeography, here are some ideas for places to start:
- How To Become An Explorer Of The World : Portable Life Museum
Two weeks ago, I found a great book by Keri Smith which instructs you to collect things you have found and document your surroundings. This is a great basic Psychogeography book which may lead on to more fascinating things.
- Geocaching
See if you can find evidence of Geocaching happening in your area.
"Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online."
- View the work of Tina Richardson and her blog Particulations

- Take A Boundary Walk
One evening in Summer 2010, I took part in a "Beating The Bounds" walk with the Leeds Psychogeography group.
A member of the Psychogeography group designed a map based on the designated drinking areas in Leeds City Centre. We then were able to walk following the boundaries of the map, clutching alcoholic drinks, and seeing if we would attract the attention of the police.
We didn't get fined or told off, but it was fun.
- Read "Psychogeography" by Will Self
Will Self is a noted psychogeographer, and this book is a collection of visual essays that he wrote for The Independent.
"Ranging from the Scottish Highlands to Istanbul and from Morocco to Ohio, Will Self's engaging and disturbing vision is perfectly counter pointed by Ralph Steadman's edgy and beautiful artwork."
- Project 365
One of the most important things about Psychogeography, is to explore and to notice.
Personally, I have found that committing to taking a picture every day has helped me to find beauty and interest in my immediate surroundings.
You can see my 365 Project for 2009 here, and 2011 here.

Labels: Art, Geocaching, Leeds, Leeds University, Particulations, Psychogeography, The Culture Vulture, Tina Richardson, Video, Walking, Will Self

Ito Hirotoshi studied at Tokyo University Of The Arts and was then destined to take over from the family business in masonry.
From here, Ito began to experiment with materials in his spare time and took on a few metalwork courses to expand his knowledge.
The result of Ito's art education and material knowledge has resulted in these strange stone sculptures.
Ito Hirotoshi's aim is to "soften" the reputation of stone as a material, by introducing more human counterparts and manipulating the curves of each rock.
The interesting aspect of these sculptures for me, is that Ito Hirotoshi has taken a raw material straight from the landscape (stones taken from a river bank), and transformed the material in to a product of his own imagination.
To find out more, please visit Ito Hirotoshi's flickr and The Coilhouse Blog.

Labels: Art, Ito Hirotoshi, Natural, Nature, Rock, Sculpture, Stone, Tokyo University Of The Arts

In 2008, Gunther Von Haagen brought his Body Worlds exhibition to Manchester's Science & Industry museum. I visited out of pure morbid curiosity, and then wished I hadn't gone at all. For me, the plastination of corpses had not taken away any of the horror of seeing real dismembered organs splayed out in glass boxes.

Recently I have been considering the artistic and scientific merits of Gunther Von Haagens work, and came across an essay by Lucia Tanassi in The Anatomy Of Body Worlds.
The essay was named "Twilife: The Art and Science Of Consuming Death."
Tanassi raises many issues about the Body Worlds exhibition, firstly by suggesting that humans have a "curious discomfort with death" and we crave knowledge of our mortality in a clinical, non-threatening way.
The plastination in Body Worlds is designed to halt the organic process of decay, and produces
"full body specimens that are dry and odourless and can last for an indefinite amount of time."

Gunther Von Haagen aims to promote the disadvantages of obesity and smoking, but it could be argued that immediately facing tar-covered lungs feels a little too visceral.
I certainly felt sick looking at the innards of other humans!
In "Twi-life: The Art and Science Of Consuming Death", Tanassi doubts that Haagen will be successful in promoting healthy lifestyles through plastination of ruined organs.
It is believed that Gunther Von Haagen has created a "new sociology of death", wherein we are free to satisfy our curiosities by gazing upon some poor sod encased in plastic.
This particular method of viewing cadavers for educational purposes is new, but death and art have been interlinked through-out art history.
For example, Rembrandt painted "The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Tulip" and is famous for "Vanitas" still life.


In this day and age, it is rare that we would come across a corpse.
However in previous centuries, humans were used to public executions and open-casket funerals were more common.
Tanassi explains with the concept of "twi-life" playing on the idea of an "after-life".
Tanassi imagines that through plastination, the cadavers gain a new plasticized identity and even, social life, as the public flock to view them.
In this particular "piece", Gunther Von Haagen was inspired by an anatomical drawing of a man holding all of his skin in one hand, to show his muscular structure.
In drawing form, the picture is fairly easy to confront, but conjured in to reality by Haagen, it becomes positively grotesque.
Tanassi argues that Von - Haagens message to "democratize anatomy" is overshadowed by the sheer power of human curiosity to view the dead. "The gaze" is heavily theorized in Fine Art history, so it is understandable from an artists perspective, that Tanassi would question the motive of Body World visitors.
One thing is for sure, Gunther Von Haagens work has definitely raised some debate between both the art and science field!
I would be interested to know your experiences of Gunter Von Haagens work, have you been to a Body Worlds exhibition or seen the live autopsy ?

Labels: Art, Death, Gunther Von Haagen, Science, The Gaze

Yesterday, I visited The Musical Brain conference at The Institute Of Neurology with my course (MA Art & Science).
Whilst there, I met a lady called Claire who introduced me to the Sound Thought Project based in Glasgow.
I was particularly struck by this piece of work by the artist Calum Scott.
Calum Scott - Cymatic Sculpture (Sound Thought 2011) from The Arches on Vimeo.
In 2010, I visited the Glasgow International Art Festival, and found a painting in one of The Arches galleries that had been created by placing a board on top of a speaker and letting the sound waves work their magic.It seems to me that Glasgow is the epicentre of sound based art! Very inspiring...

Labels: Acoustic, Art, Calum Scott, Cymatic, Glasgow, Glasgow International Art Festival, Kinetics, Neurology, Nodal Visualization, Physical Computing, Sculpture, Sonic, Sound, The Arches, The Musical Brain, Vimeo

As part of my MA Art and Science programme, we were able to have a detailed tour around the Wellcome Collection and in the Wellcome Libary.
I was at first astounded at the amount of the online resources that the Wellcome Collection provides, there is a Wellcome Film youtube channel which has over 300 videos uploaded.
There is also a huge database of images on the Wellcome Images site, which has a great selection of anatomical drawings, illustrative diagrams, lithograph prints, scientific photographs and much more!
Here are some things I personally found interesting on the tour:

BBC Source
This is an exhibited created by Gunther Von Haagen, it is a very thin slice of a human body, plastinated in the typical Haagen way.I was particularly interested in the curious way the slice has been presented, between two pieces of glass in a suitably clinical way.
source
This exhibit is the "Library Of The Genome", a publication of a human DNA sequence. The books you see here contain 3 Billion characters (genetic bases) which have been printed and published in to a volume of books. Apparently, to recite the sequence character by character would take approximately 56 years!To think that each human has a completely different DNA sequence is mind-blowing.
It was also interesting to learn that Henry Wellcome preferred to display his collection in a Darwinian style, laying out each specimen side by side.
Other things that caught my imagination include:
- Death Masks that were carved while they were still on a tree, so that "tree spirits" could animate the face.It's interesting that nature has been allowed to alter the work.
- Hair used to illustrate weeping willows inside a piece of mourning jewellery.
- Anatomical Flip-Diagrams which can be found on the Digitised Collections.

Labels: Anatomical, Anatomy, Art, Death Masks, Dna, Gunther Von Haagen, Hair, Library Of The Genome, Mourning Jewellery, Plasticization, Sequence, The Wellcome Collection, Wellcome Collection, Youtube

Okay, so you know about Fibonacci, but have you heard about Fibonacci haiku / poetry?
Instead of the original haiku sequence of:
5-7-5
Poets have started to use the Fibonacci sequence to inspire poetry:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144,
Here are some examples


Source: The Silent K
This is a great article about Fibonacci Poetry.
Feel free to comment with your own!

Labels: Algorithms, Art, Fibonacci, Haiku, Literature, Mathematics, Number, Poetry, Science, Sequence, Words

The NASA Voyager probes which were sent out in 1977, are now more than 14 billion kilometres from Earth, and are approaching the Sun's influence.
The Voyagers are still sending back data, and computer modelling based on this information suggests that there is some interesting bubble-like activity happening at the edge of our Solar System.
"Computer modelling based on the Voyager insights suggests the edge of our Solar System is a froth of activity, like "an agitated jacuzzi", said Eugene Parker from the University of Chicago, US. Magnetic field lines carried in the "wind" of material coming off our star are breaking and reconnecting. This process is sculpting the wind into discrete bubbles that are many tens of millions of kilometres wide."Read more.
In my research, I have been researching the universality of roundness and studying the characteristics and behaviour of soap bubbles. Consequently, the idea of bubble-like activity happening in Space, is very exciting!

Labels: Art, Bbc, Bubbles, Magnetism, Nasa, Space, The Shape Of Our Universe, The Sun, Universality Of Roundness, Universe

In the first year of my degree at Leeds College Of Art, one of my coursemates introduced me to the Fibonacci sequence.
My friend was fascinated with the Fibonacci sequence, as this mathematical pattern occurs in nature.
I won't write in too much depth about the Fibonacci sequence, as my understanding came ultimately from pictures and diagrams.
Fibonacci Sequence In Numerical Form
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987
Fibonacci Numbers Placed In Diagram

If you were to draw a line from between these squares in numerical order, you would then create a spiral.

Fibonacci In Nature
The fibonacci spiral is clearly seen in this cross cut of a shell.
You can also see a fibonacci spiral looking directly on top of a pine cone or the fruit spouts of a pineapple.
Here's a fibonacci spiral you can witness right now, by merely looking closely at your finger tips.
This discovery has made my every-day experiences much more profound, and it has the same effect on mathematicians, scientists and artists alike.
For a regular dose of fibonacci inspiration, I follow Fuck Yeah Fibonacci. This page has some great art and photographs, here are some of my favourites:

This is a 1985 artwork from the artist Andy Goldsworthy:
There is also evidence of Fibonacci in Hokusai's "Great Wave".

Keep your eye out!

Labels: Andy Goldsworthy, Art, Fibonacci, Hokusai, Mathmatics, Nature, Science