2022
in collaboration with Adam Lamson
computerized Jacquard cotton weavings affixed to wood wall mounts
54 H × 54 W × 1 D in (137 H × 137 W × 2.54 D cm) each
"Tangible Variations" is a series of woven scientific visualizations generated from computational biology simulations. The weavings, created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson at the Flatiron Institute, explore the emergence of abstraction and noise in material translations of computational representations of the molecular world. Types of visualizations in the series include Hi-C maps, which visualize molecular interactions at a single point in time, and kymographs, which aggregate interactions over the entire duration of a simulation. The patterns of the woven contact maps show interactions among nucleosomes as the structure of chromatin reconfigures. Chromatin is a complex of DNA, RNA, and protein that is found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells and is responsible for packaging and organizing the genetic material of a cell. The changing configuration of chromatin over time has important implications for gene expression, epigenetics, disease, and evolution. Simulations of chromatin configurations can be run with biophysical models from which contact map visualizations can be inferred. Contact maps are used by scientists to reveal changing structural features of chromatin such as interactions between DNA wound around the nucleosomes. They can reveal how a genome is organized and show how likely two parts of the genome are to be close to one another. Adam Lamson generates simulated contact maps (representing different points in time or an ensemble average) from his biophysical models. Variations in patterns among the weavings are the result of different spatial positions of nucleosomes in the simulations that are represented with a spectrum of colors know as color maps. The "Tangible Variations" series incorporates the use of different color maps including "cubehelix", designed by Dave Green of the Astrophysics Group at Cavendish Laboratory.
"Tangible Variations" is a series of woven scientific visualizations generated from computational biology simulations. The weavings, created in collaboration with theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson at the Flatiron Institute, explore the emergence of abstraction and noise in material translations of computational representations of the molecular world. Types of visualizations in the series include Hi-C maps, which visualize molecular interactions at a single point in time, and kymographs, which aggregate interactions over the entire duration of a simulation. The patterns of the woven contact maps show interactions among nucleosomes as the structure of chromatin reconfigures. Chromatin is a complex of DNA, RNA, and protein that is found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells and is responsible for packaging and organizing the genetic material of a cell. The changing configuration of chromatin over time has important implications for gene expression, epigenetics, disease, and evolution. Simulations of chromatin configurations can be run with biophysical models from which contact map visualizations can be inferred. Contact maps are used by scientists to reveal changing structural features of chromatin such as interactions between DNA wound around the nucleosomes. They can reveal how a genome is organized and show how likely two parts of the genome are to be close to one another. Adam Lamson generates simulated contact maps (representing different points in time or an ensemble average) from his biophysical models. Variations in patterns among the weavings are the result of different spatial positions of nucleosomes in the simulations that are represented with a spectrum of colors know as color maps. The "Tangible Variations" series incorporates the use of different color maps including "cubehelix", designed by Dave Green of the Astrophysics Group at Cavendish Laboratory.
“Tangible Variations” is part of Sticky Settings, a sciart collaboration between interdisciplinary artist Laura Splan and theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson. Their projects explore entanglements of computational and biological worlds through research, co-creation, and public engagement. Their process and production are informed by Lamson’s biophysical simulations and Splan’s studio practice interrogating scientific imaging techniques. Lamson’s chromatin simulations serve as both material and as 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 collaboration looks for potential for deeper understanding of science through rematerialized representations of molecular phenomena. Their weavings, soundscapes, and animations engage audiences with abstract biological and mathematical concepts using familiar media, immersive experiences, and visually arresting imagery.
The creative underpinnings of Sticky Settings are informed by Splan and 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...
…Splan deftly weaves scientific findings into visually stimulating artworks…
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)
