At first glance, it may appear that scientists and artists look at the world in different ways, but look again: Careful observation is at the heart of both callings.
"Microbiomes: To See the Unseen," the latest collaboration between the arts and sciences at The Arts Center in Corvallis, takes that observation to a microscopic level: Artists and poets were invited to submit works inspired by the idea of the microbiome, the trillions of microbes that share our lives.
The show, which opens Thursday and runs through May 27 at The Arts Center, features artwork, poetry (and, at some points over the life of the exhibition, music) inspired by something that can't be seen by the naked eye. And as artists were invited to submit work for the show, another commonality between artists and scientists became apparent: They both have "a very similar type of curiosity about how the world works," said Hester Coucke, curator of public programs at the center.
People are also reading…
In fact, the preparations for "Microbiomes" built on that curiosity: Artists were invited to participate in workshops in science labs at Oregon State University, another sponsor of the show. (The show is part of "SPARK," OSU's year-long celebration of arts and science and follows on the heels of last year's "Rot: The Afterlife of Trees" exhibit.)
The artists were enthralled by the scientific workshops, said Jerri Bartholomew, the head of OSU's Department of Microbiology, an accomplished artist in her own right and a driving force behind "Microbiomes." (The show includes a pair of Bartholomew's glass works.)
But the artists also were fascinated by Bartholomew's own graduate students: Bartholomew asked the students to present their "three-minute theses," in which they're asked to summarize their graduate work in 180 or so seconds.
The artists devoured the information: "It was really fascinating to see the questions that came out of this," she said, "really probing questions that made (the students) think as hard as the artists."
And that, in some ways, gets at the essence of "Microbiomes": It's artists and scientists having unexpectedly deep conversations with each other that help illuminate the worlds of both. And people who check out the show to see the resulting work get to eavesdrop on those conversations — and they might get some illumination as well, at a time when both arts and sciences appear to be at risk of being devalued.
The resulting artwork comes in a variety of media, from the stainless steel mesh Washington state artist Lanny Bergner used to create "Zika," to Finnish artist Johanna Rotko's photographic work, which uses raster images, UV light and yeast.
Coucke was struck by the work of Pete Goldlust of Eugene, who used polymer clay for his "Colonial No. 1."Â
"I thought it was really interesting to see someone make such amazing work out of such ordinary material," Coucke said.
Bartholomew was struck by "Mirrored Lattice," a work by Corvallis artist Amanda Salov. "This looks like biofilm developing," Bartholomew said. "It looks like bacterial communication."Â
Bartholomew also was pleased to see the work of Eugene artist Michael Boonstra in the show. When Bartholomew first saw Boonstra's aerial landscapes, she said, she thought: "This man needs to sit in front of an electron microscope and look at landscapes from that perspective." In Boonstra's work "Lake Abert (Field Studies/Graduations) 1," he does just that, combining a shot of the lake with images of microbes found in the lake.
Coucke is thrilled that "Microbiomes" gives her an opportunity to showcase Bartholomew's own work.
Bartholomew has been working in glass since 1990 and actually bought a kiln when she earned her PhD. At the time, she remembers thinking: "Now, you have a very expensive hobby."
But glass has given her what she calls "endless directions to explore." The two works she has in "Microbiomes" offer what she calls "a scientific homage to a few of my favorite bugs: the microbes that were formative in my scientific career."
One of the works, "Vibrio," refers back to her first research project as a graduate student. The task was to investigate the virulence of a newly discovered species of the bacteria Vibrio. The other work, "Myxozoa," was inspired by what Bartholomew, writing in the show's catalog, called "a fascinating group of parasites that have beautifully bizarre morphologies and equally strange life cycles."
"Most of my art is very collage-like," Bartholomew said, "so I do a lot of experimentation."
In fact, "Vibrio" and "Myxozoa" find her experimenting with multimedia: The works feature projections onto the cast glass.
Having seen the results of this conversation between artists and scientists, Bartholomew said she's determined to keep the dialogue going. "Over the years, we've really siloed the two professions," she said.
"One of the things I want to find out is, how can I use art more to inform science? How can we keep this going?"