2022–Present (ongoing series in progress)
in collaboration with Adam Lamson
ANIMATION
4K animation created with 3D nucleosome model, 20-channel data-driven spatial soundscape
running times vary, projection and screen dimensions variable
PRINTS
archival pigment prints on fine art paper
40 H × 40 W in (102 H × 102 W cm) with other sizes available
Baroque Bodies (Ambient Portals) 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 animation presents 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 with Midjourney using text prompts from epigenetics research on the influence of environmental factors on gene expression. The accompanying 20-channel soundscape was created through sonification of chromatin simulations that are also visualized as contact maps in a related series of weavings, Tangible Variations. 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.
Baroque Bodies (Ambient Portals) 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 animation presents 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 with Midjourney using text prompts from epigenetics research on the influence of environmental factors on gene expression. The accompanying 20-channel soundscape was created through sonification of chromatin simulations that are also visualized as contact maps in a related series of weavings, Tangible Variations. 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.
Baroque Bodies was created as part of Sticky Settings, a sciart collaboration between interdisciplinary artist Laura Splan and theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson. The project explores entanglements of computational and biological worlds through research, artworks, exhibitions, and public engagement. Process and production for the project are informed by Lamson’s biological simulations and Splan’s studio practice interrogating scientific imaging techniques. Lamson’s simulated chromatin structures serve as both material and as a conceptual framework for artworks that attempt to communicate complex biology by connecting virtual representations of the biological world with sensory encounters and tactile experiences. The creative and technical underpinnings of the work are informed by Splan and Adam Lamson’s shared fascination with the layers of translation involved in digital representations of molecular biology. In software interfaces, “sticky settings” is a phrase used to describe “remembered” user settings. “Sticky” is also a term Lamson uses to describe certain molecular interactions in his computer-generated models. In biology, evidence has emerged for gene bookmarking suggesting mechanisms of epigenetic memory or “stickiness” in DNA. Their collaborative artworks repurpose the “GUI” interfaces with which we confront “gooey” biological materialities in the lab and reframe their implications in our everyday lives.
...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...
...Interdisciplinarity is the foundation on which artist Laura Splan conceives her work...Through her practice, science is moved out of the laboratories while keeping its axioms and experiments present...A number of its mechanisms are paralleled with the cultural dynamics that inhabit our everyday lives, putting a magnifying glass on the interconnections that exist between diverse fields of knowledge...
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
Sticky Settings, sciart collaboration profile created by the Simons Foundation, 2023
Multimedia Director: Rebecca Horne
Video Production and Editing: Ninetynine Films (Vanina Feldsztein and Johannes Kroemer)
