A Guided Sublimation
October 20-21, 2023
Vanderbilt Museum Reichert Planetarium
180 Little Neck Rd., Centerport, NY 11721 (Google Map)
Curator: Paul Rubery
Planetarium Director: David Bush
OCTOBER 20, 2023 at 7PM
Private Premiere (By Invitation—Request Invitation)
followed by a brief Panel Discussion and Wine Reception
OCTOBER 21, 2023 at 6PM
Public Viewing (RSVP for Ticketing Link)
A Guided Sublimation will premiere at the Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium on October 20th and 21st. This immersive planetarium experience includes animations and sound created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson. The Vanderbilt will host a private premiere and panel discussion on October 20th moderated by curator Paul Rubery with Laura Splan and Adam Lamson in conversation with Brooke Belisle (Associate Professor of Comparative Media, Stony Brook University).
A Guided Sublimation will premiere at the Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium on October 20th and 21st. This immersive planetarium experience includes animations and sound created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson. The Vanderbilt will host a private premiere and panel discussion on October 20th moderated by curator Paul Rubery with Laura Splan and Adam Lamson in conversation with Brooke Belisle (Associate Professor of Comparative Media, Stony Brook University).
Laura Splan’s A Guided Sublimation will be presented at the Vanderbilt Planetarium on October 20th and 21st. Splan, known for her artistic work combining art, science, and technology, is premiering this immersive planetarium experience that includes animations and sound created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson. This new fulldome artwork commissioned by Vanderbilt Museum will premiere with a special private viewing on October 20th. A panel discussion will follow the premiere viewing with Laura Splan and Adam Lamson in conversation with curator Paul Rubery. A public viewing will be presented on October 21st.
A Guided Sublimation explores the interconnectedness of the natural world and the built environment through examinations of biotechnological representations. The work evokes notions of residues in both the abstract (metaphorical, poetic, ethereal) and the physical (literal, material, biological). The conceptual underpinnings of the project are drawn from epigenetic research on environmental influences on gene expression. Drawing both inspiration and material from emerging research on the effects of trauma, climate change, food scarcity and other external influences on public health, the work explores the complex relationships between what is invisible and in plain sight, nature and nurture. The animations present a meditation on microcosms of molecular bodies that are situated in a liminal space that is at once biological and technological, autonomous and entangled.
The animations were created using 3D molecular models of nucleosomes that reflect AI-generated landscapes made from scientific text prompts. The mirror surfaces of histones and DNA reflect idyllic landscapes that are otherwise invisible in the animations. The reflected images in the mirror proteins were created using text prompts from epigenetics research on the influence of environmental factors on gene expression, connecting micro and macro worlds. The text excerpts were chosen in collaboration with Hannah Lui Park (UC Irvine School of Medicine Park Lab) from Park’s studies of DNA methylation markers that indicate pesticide exposure. Park's Lab examines relationships between environmental exposures, disease risks, and their interactions with epigenetics.
The accompanying spatial soundscape was created through MIDI-synthesized sonifications of chromatin simulations. The composition was composed by converting the resulting sound files into midi tracks. A different midi instrument was assigned to each of the tracks creating an ethereal spatial soundscape. Splan also collaborated with musicians for additional elements layered into the soundscape. Biotech lab instrumentation engineer and musician Frank Masciocchi created an electric guitar composition inspired by the structure of a symphony. Heavy metal musician Jared Warren (Big Business, Melvins) contributed vocals that punctuate key moments in the animations. Splan developed the spatialization of the composition while in residence as NEW INC Artist-in-Residence at EY at the New Museum where she is collaborating with creative technologists to explore extended reality experiences. A special version of the soundscape will be released as a limited-edition LP in collaboration with arts technologist KamranV of CyKiK using Phonocut, a unique push button vinyl recording device he developed.
The Vanderbilt Museum’s Charles and Helen Reichert Planetarium offers cutting-edge programming in the most technologically advanced theater of its kind on Long Island. The Planetarium’s William and Mollie Rogers Theater includes a 60-foot dome, 147 oversized comfort seats, a powerful 5.1 surround sound system, a hybrid Geministar III star projector with fulldome video projection.
...biophysicist Adam Lamson is collaborating with artist Laura Splan in a project the two of them call ‘Sticky Settings’...From giant tapestries that present maps of DNA in colorful, tactile formats, to otherworldly animations set to music, their art invites a non-scientific audience to literally walk into the processes our own cells are undergoing every day...
This work was made possible by the Simons Foundation. Created in collaboration with Adam Lamson, Science Collaborator and theoretical biophysicist at Flatiron Institute, a division of the Simons Foundation.
Created while in residence as NEW INC Artist in Residence at EY at NEW INC, the New Museum's cultural incubator
Additional project support provided by the Media Arts Assistance Fund (MAAF) for Artists, a regrant program with the New York State Council on the Arts
