Leonardo Journal Volume 43, Issue 3, 2010
Leonardo is a print journal, published five times a year. Leonardo is edited by Leonardo/the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, and published by the MIT Press.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Guest Editorial
Arts | Humanities | Complex Networks
by Maximilian Schich, Isabel Meirelles and Albert-László Barabási
This article is available for free download from the MIT Press web site.
Special Section: Reimagining the Moon
Many Faces: Reimagining the Moon
by Sundar Sarukkai
Cinderella Lunar Mission: Everyone Has a Chance to Set Foot on the Moon
by Danqing Shi
This article is available for free download from the MIT Press web site.
ABSTRACT: The author compares the original story of Cinderella with the modern fairy tale created by the news media in covering the Apollo Program. This comparison builds the basis for the design of Cinderella Lunar Mission, a pseudo-lunar mission consisting, variously, of an installation, fake news reports, a lunar mission network game and real-world action
Moon Music: A Composition of Art and Science in Dialogue
by Edvin Østergaard
ABSTRACT: Leonardo da Vinci’s careful descriptions of the reflection of light by the moon inspired the author to compose a piece for choir on ways of perceiving the moon. In The Two Moons, Leonardo’s words are contrasted with two additional texts: facts from a textbook on astronomy and a poem by Denise Levertov. The author discusses the challenge of transforming text and idea into musical sound. Music is a unique form of expression and can never be reduced to mere illustration of either scientific or emotional display. Further he discusses exploring natural phenomena by means of parallel efforts in art and science.
Special Section: SIGGRAPH 2009 Awardee Statements
Form, Grace and Stark Logic: 30 Years of Algorithmic Drawing
by Roman Verostko
Lynn Hershman Leeson in conversation with Gabriella Giannachi
Articles and Notes
Re-Animating Greg Lynn's Embryological House: A Case Study in Digital Design Preservation
by Lawrence Bird and Guillaume LaBelle
The Crystal Interface in Contemporary Art: Metaphors of the Organic and Inorganic
by Mark A. Cheetham
ABSTRACT: What the author calls the "crystal interface" presents an opportunity to historicize and theorize the remarkable fascination with crystals found in contemporary art theory and practice. In aesthetics, science and art production, the crystal materializes intimations of transparency, of vitalistic transformation or of a purist stability. It powerfully articulates a line or gradation between the organic and inorganic. The author’s goal is to create a context in which to understand the recourse to the crystal in contemporary art, specifically in the work of Roger Hiorns, David Altmejd and Gerard Caris. As a frame, the author examines Schopenhauer’s, Worringer’s and Deleuze and Guattari’s adoption of the crystal as metaphor and material exemplar.
building_space_with_words: An Interactive Multimedia Installation Exploring the Relationship between Physical and Virtual Space
by Anne-Laure Fayard and Aileen Wilson
ABSTRACT: The authors, a social scientist and a visual artist, collaborated to produce building_space_with_words, an interactive multimedia installation. The project investigated the relationship between physical and virtual space and more specifically what happens when the physical properties of space become intangible and discourse becomes the main material. Drawing on studies of organizational space and of on-line communities, the authors created an environment that materialized virtual and physical interactions. This paper describes the elements---the maze, the sound, the tag wall, the tag journey and the blog---that created the installation and the concepts that inspired the work.
The Electric Retina: An Interplay of Media Art and Neuroscience
by Corinne Hodel and Stephan C.F. Neuhauss, with Artist’s Statement by Jill Scott
ABSTRACT: The Electric Retina is an interactive sculpture built by the artist Jill Scott. This project is the result of her residency at the Institute of Zoology (Zurich) neurobiological laboratory and is an artistic interpretation of the lab's research on zebrafish vision. This trans-disciplinary collaboration has served to communicate scientific findings to the general public. Moreover, learning different styles and modes of communication required for interfacing with the general public and with the artist has been a worthwhile experience for the scientists involved.
The Current Emphasis on Science and Technology in Nigeria: Dilemmas for Art Education
by I.B. Kashim and O.S. Adelabu
ABSTRACT: ABSTRACT: Nigerian educational policies continue to emphasize the development of science and technology. Arts are being relegated to the background as a result of this emphasis. This paradigm shift has affected visual arts education in Nigeria. The number of those seeking admission into science- and engineering-based courses has risen tenfold in spite of the limited infrastructural facilities available, while the number seeking admission to creative arts continues to dwindle yearly. Those who had been preparing for courses in engineering and science but could not secure admission are often absorbed into arts-based industrial design courses. Students in industrial design with science backgrounds are able to develop their creative potential, which is necessary in developing economies. This paper suggests that art training in Nigeria should embrace integrated science subjects.
Blending Art and Science: Collapse (suddenly falling down)
by Michael Neff et al.:
ABSTRACT: Collapse (suddenly falling down) was a dance/theater/media production that brought together a diverse group of artists and scientists to explore the varied ways that social and natural systems collapse and the responses of human societies. This paper focuses on the nature of the collaboration, the unique products it produced and the lessons learned. Three art-science collaboration themes emerged: (1) implementation of a large-scale stereo display for 3D data; (2) exploration from a visual design perspective of digital scans of natural hazard sites normally used for scientific research; and (3) integration of optical tracking for interaction between performers and visualizations. Each theme is explored in detail and each member of the team reflects on lessons learned from the process.
Perceptual Disruption and Composure in Bridget Riley’s Fall
by Gert J. van Tonder
ABSTRACT: The geometry of the conspicuous variations in the apparent contrast observed in Fall, a representative painting by Bridget Riley, is analyzed here with a computational model of human vision. Observed contrast patterns constitute a source of perceptual rivalry between compositional elements in the artwork, causing visual tension. The analysis further brings to attention previously unnoticed abstract order---a global structure that may visually anchor perception during active viewing of the artwork. The combination of the different compositional layers drives sophisticated visual effects, setting the painting apart from similar patterns that are often used as scientific experimental stimuli.
Special Section: ArtScience: The Essential Connection
Andre Lwoff: A Man of Two Cultures
by Robert Root-Bernstein
Leonardo Reviews
Reviews by Jan Baetens, John F. Barber, Giovanna Costantini, Anthony Enns, Dene Grigar, Rob Harle, Amy Ione, Mike Leggett, Michael R. Mosher, Maureen Nappi, Martha Patricia Niño Mojica, Aparna Sharma, Stephen Wilson
Transactions
Creating Special Visual Effects with Moiré Patterns in Stereoscopic 3D and 4D Computed Tomographic Art
Emotion Gesture Art
by Eunjung Han et al.
Cry of Nature: A Plant Interfaces with the World Using Music
by Bugra Karabey
Tracing Moments
by Jen Seevinck
Exploring the Method of Hypothetical Artwork Modelling: Case of the Primary Colours Fallacy
by Jurij Selan
Leonardo Network News
Endnote
Scientific Thought and Poetic Craft: Seeking New Imagery and Vision to Involve the American Scholar
by Jared R.W. Smith
Updated 16 June 2010
