A Guided Sublimation at Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium

immersive planetarium experience combining micro and macro worlds with animation and sound created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson
Commission

A Guided Sublimation at Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium

PROGRAMMING REQUESTS: PRESENT "A GUIDED SUBLIMATION"

A Guided Sublimation: An Immersive Meditation on Posthuman Subjectivities
October 20-21, 2023
Vanderbilt Museum Reichert Planetarium
Centerport, NY
Curated by Paul Rubery

multisensory full dome planetarium experience by Laura Splan
animations & soundscapes created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson
star projection sequences/planetarium technology coordination by Dave Bush
guitar by Frank Masciocchi
vocals by Jared Warren

OCT 20 at 7PM Private Premiere/Panel/Reception
Screening followed by Laura Splan and Adam Lamson in conversation with curator Paul Rubery and Brooke Belisle (Associate Professor of Comparative Media, Stony Brook University)

PREMIERE SCREENING PROGRAM BOOKLET (PDF)

“A Guided Sublimation” is a multisensory meditation on posthuman subjectivities. This immersive artwork can be presented in full dome or planetarium venues or adapted for theatrical and gallery spaces. Conflating conventions of guided meditation and planetarium scripts, “A Guided Sublimation” immerses viewers in a liminal space situated between the macro and micro, biological and technological, sublime and absurd. Combining mesmerizing 3D animations, narration, and spatial sound with star sequences and scent, the work creates an arresting exploration of past and present through the lens of epigenetic science. Texts from scientific research serve as a foundation for the narration as well as for prompts for AI-generated imagery in the animations. “A Guided Sublimation” creates a hypnotic journey from the perspective of molecular entities that show us the interconnectedness of interior and exterior worlds. The animations and narration traverse entanglements across space and time with visual modalities conventionally used to represent the magnitude of the cosmos. Custom star sequences for each presentation provide a unique experience by combining molecular and cosmological scales from a site-specific perspective. Star projections sequences can be performed live with an analog star projector, programmed on digital star projection systems, or simulated in digital animation for single channel presentation in gallery and theatrical settings. A program guide introduces the creative, technological, and scientific underpinnings of the work to audiences in an accessible and memorable way while also giving visibility to project collaborators, partners, and sponsors. A rose scented bookmark made with a signature formulation references narration elements that allude to environmental influences on gene expression.

“A Guided Sublimation” is a multisensory meditation on posthuman subjectivities. This immersive artwork can be presented in full dome or planetarium venues or adapted for theatrical and gallery spaces. Conflating conventions of guided meditation and planetarium scripts, “A Guided Sublimation” immerses viewers in a liminal space situated between the macro and micro, biological and technological, sublime and absurd. Combining mesmerizing 3D animations, narration, and spatial sound with star sequences and scent, the work creates an arresting exploration of past and present through the lens of epigenetic science. Texts from scientific research serve as a foundation for the narration as well as for prompts for AI-generated imagery in the animations. “A Guided Sublimation” creates a hypnotic journey from the perspective of molecular entities that show us the interconnectedness of interior and exterior worlds. The animations and narration traverse entanglements across space and time with visual modalities conventionally used to represent the magnitude of the cosmos. Custom star sequences for each presentation provide a unique experience by combining molecular and cosmological scales from a site-specific perspective. Star projections sequences can be performed live with an analog star projector, programmed on digital star projection systems, or simulated in digital animation for single channel presentation in gallery and theatrical settings. A program guide introduces the creative, technological, and scientific underpinnings of the work to audiences in an accessible and memorable way while also giving visibility to project collaborators, partners, and sponsors. A rose scented bookmark made with a signature formulation references narration elements that allude to environmental influences on gene expression.

Studio Press Release: Vanderbilt Museum Premiere

A Guided Sublimation is an immersive planetarium experience that explores the interconnectedness of micro and macro worlds. The project, which draws its conceptual underpinnings from emerging research in genetics, plays with the aesthetics of the residual, capturing the word’s meaning in both an abstract, ethereal sense and in its biological specificity.

Splan and her collaborators take inspiration from cutting-edge research in epigenetics, or the influence of the environment over gene expression. Together, they present a work that explores the complex relationships that exist between what is invisible and in plain sight, nature and nurture, past and present. Such a relational matrix unfolds as an artful meditation on the microcosms of molecular bodies that are situated in a liminal space that is at once biological, technological, and cosmological.

The narration, written and read by Splan, uses conventions of guided meditation and educational planetarium programming to lead viewers through a series of biophysical mechanisms. These mechanisms, which range from DNA methylation to the organization of DNA inside cells, are all intimate processes that texture the narrative journey of the work. Portions of the text are inspired by emerging epigenetics research on the transgenerational inheritance of sensitivities to environmental stimuli such as scent. Splan’s poetic exploration of molecular phenomena also includes AI-generated text interspersed with excerpts from Gloria Vanderbilt’s 1955 book “Love Poems,” a nod to the planetarium’s association with the Vanderbilt family.

A Guided Sublimation’s animations include scientific visualizations and computational simulations from theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson’s research. Splan and Lamson created 3D animations as part of their “Sticky Settings” collaboration, exploring technological translations of the biological world. One data-driven animation uses Lamson’s code and equations from his chromatin simulations to drive the fluctuating movement of forms. Other animations were created using 3D molecular models of nucleosomes that reflect AI-generated landscapes made using scientific text prompts from epigenetics research. The text excerpts were chosen in collaboration with Hannah Lui Park (UC Irvine School of Medicine Park Lab) from her lab’s studies of DNA methylation markers that indicate pesticide exposure. The mirrored surfaces of histones and DNA reflect the idyllic AI landscapes that are otherwise invisible in the animations.

The star projector sequences by Vanderbilt Planetarium director Dave Bush provide a unique experience by combining molecular and cosmological scales. A Guided Sublimation traverses magnitudes of space and time in a format conventionally used to represent the breadth of the cosmos.

The accompanying spatialized soundscape was created with synthesized sonifications that were composed with MIDI conversions of sound waves that Lamson generated from his chromatin simulations. Biotech lab instrumentation engineer and musician Frank Masciocchi created an electric guitar composition inspired by a symphonic structure. Heavy metal musician Jared Warren (Big Business, Melvins) contributed vocals that punctuate select moments in the animations. A special version of the soundscape will be released as a limited-edition double LP in collaboration with arts technologist KamranV of CyKiK using Phonocut, a unique push button vinyl recording device he developed. Splan produced elements of the sound and animations while in residence as NEW INC Artist-in-Residence at EY at the New Museum, where she is collaborating with creative technologist Danielle McPhatter to explore hybrid reality experiences.

Additional Collaborators

science advisor: Hannah Lui Park / UCI Park Lab
script advisor: Reuben Lorch-Miller
creative technology advisor: Danielle McPhatter
limited edition vinyl production: KamranV / CyKiK / Phonocut
communications: The Hybrid Studio

Research Sources for AI Generated Images and Narration Script

Rachel M. Lucia, Wei-Lin Huang, Khyatiben V. Pathak, Marissa McGilvrey, Victoria David-Dirgo, Andrea Alvarez, Deborah Goodman https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2006-8718, Irene Masunaka, Andrew O. Odegaard, Argyrios Ziogas, Patrick Pirrotte, Trina M. Norden-Krichmar, and Hannah Lui Park. 4 April 2022. "Association of Glyphosate Exposure with Blood DNA Methylation in a Cross-Sectional Study of Postmenopausal Women". Environmental Health Perspectives. Volume 130, Issue 4. CID: 047001. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10174

Park, Hannah Lui. 2020. "Epigenetic Biomarkers for Environmental Exposures and Personalized Breast Cancer Prevention". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17, no. 4: 1181. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041181

Dias, B., Ressler, K. 2014. "Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations". Nat Neurosci. 17, 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3594

Vanderbilt, Gloria. 1955. "Love Poems". The World Publishing Company. Illustrations by Ann Bridges.

Science Friday

...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...

Vanderbilt Museum
Wave Farm
NY State Council on the Arts
Simons Foundation
NEW INC
Beall Center for Art + Technology
Rochester Area Community Foundation
Project Support

A Guided Sublimation was commissioned by the Vanderbilt Museum for the Charles and Helen Reichert Planetarium with support from the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

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
Beall Center for Art +Technology at UC Irvine for the 2024 Getty’s PST: Art x Science series

A Guided Sublimation is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature through the Media Arts Assistance Fund a regrant partnership of NYSCA and Wave Farm.