Openings
Jared Clemens (Biological Sciences) and Marco G. Ferrari (Visual Arts)

Clemens (Biology) and Ferrari (Visual Art) will explore the nature of neuroscience through a nighttime video projection onto the Surgery-Brain Research Pavilion (5812 S. Ellis Avenue). An audiovisual montage of original and archival materials relating to various brain processes, this project will comprise formal manipulations of color, speed, rhythm, and sound, reflecting the spatiotemporal concept of neural activity. Furthermore, a narrative will examine the rift between scientists and the public, highlighting the complexity of the brain as both a subject and means of inquiry. Documentation will be made of the actual projection and exhibition event.

Faculty Sponsors: David Freedman (Biological Sciences) and Jason Salavon (Visual Arts)

Performing the Night Sky: Heavenly Bodies, Microcosms, and the Moving Image
Sukanya Randhawa (Chemistry) and Artemis Willis (Cinema and Media Studies)

Cinema and the sciences have a historic connection, reaching far back to the magic lantern device (c. 1600’s) and its centuries-long usage for projecting astronomical content to wide audiences. This collaboration will question the aestheticized presentation of scientific ideas, considering similarities, differences, and implications found within visualized sciences. How do scientists balance accuracy and aesthetic and how have representational strategies changed over time? Randhawa (Chemistry) and Willis (CMS) will produce an image and animation driven lecture, along with an article and audiovisual piece.

Faculty Sponsors: Tom Gunning (Art History and Cinema and Media Studies) and Norbert Scherer (Chemistry)

The Music of Movement: Harnessing Motion Capture Technology to Measure Synchronization in Dance
William McFadden (Biological Sciences), Heather Harden (Psychology), and Mariusz Kozak (Music)

McFadden (Biological Sciences), Harden (Psychology), and Kozak (Music), will explore the use of accelerometers in the study of gestures, particularly those of dancers. Accelerators attached the body will allow for real time and highly sensitive motion-capture. In addition to conducting experiments of rhythmic movement, the group will live feed accelerometer-recorded data into a novel motion-based musical instrument, granting a dancer the ability to musically accompany her. Body part orientation, movement duration, and the overall sizes of gestures may be translated into audio pitch, tempo, and volume. The results of their motion experiments will be presented in a paper while work on the musical device will culminate in a dance performance piece.

Faculty Sponsors: Edwin Munro (Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology) and Larry Zbikowski (Music)

Archetypes of Reasoning
Chris Eastman (Visual Arts) and Markus Kliegl (Mathematics)

Eastman (Visual Arts) and Kliegl (Mathematics) wonder why it is that, while mathematical proofs are often described as "beautiful" or "elegant," mathematical reasoning is rarely the subject of art. Their project will develop a visual language that describes the proof and its process. Sculptures, fabricated through 3D printing technology, will communicate the mathematical steps by way of shape, material, texture, color, and opacity. Each sculpture will be identified with a specific proof; collectively, they will speak to broader patterns of reasoning shared by other academic disciplines. A virtual gallery of work will be presented online, along with documentation of the project.  

Faculty Sponsors: Geof Oppenheimer (Visual Arts) and Peter Constantin (Mathematics)

Trauma Under the Microscope: Collected Perspectives on PTSD
Nicole Baltrushes (Medicine) and Carmen Merport (English)

The public conception of PTSD is often too simple, failing to account for the complex web of social forces that impact the lives of the traumatized. Baltrushes (Pritzker Medicine) and Merport (English) believe that, to foster a better understanding of trauma, scholars must not only collaborate across disciplines but also make their work accessible to the greater community. The two propose to build a virtual "middle zone" that takes the guise of a digitized flyer but is actually a site embedded with online spaces for the interaction of multiple voices and forms, including the art and writings of survivors. Their website will be live for at least two years and will offer a more nuanced picture of trauma and PTSD.

Faculty Sponsors: Eric Slauter (English) Mari Egan (Biological Sciences)

El Shaddai
Philippe Tapon (Medicine), and Stacee Kalmanovsky and Clare Rosean (Visual Arts)

Tapon (Medicine), Kalmanovsky (Visual Arts), and Rosean (Visual Arts) will create a book integrating multidisciplinary approaches to the story of two real individuals, Manoj and Shannon, who have each endured trauma. The book will feature three characters, two being the actual subjects and the third being a composite of the creative team. Tapon will supply a scientific medical narrative, explaining the complexities of Manoj’s burn rehabilitation and Shannon’s recovery from psychological ordeals. Kalmanovsky and Rosean will interpret the narrative with photography and drawings. In addition to a printed product, the team will present a reading paired with projected imagery.

Faculty Sponsors: Katherine Desjardins (Visual Arts) and Dan Brauner (Medicine)