Plumbing art and science

Last night we had a discussion with the artists and scientists about art/science collaborations - what they are, do they work, who’s interested in them, etc.  Lively for sure.  The jury is out about these collaborations - 2 of the scientists think most scientists aren’t interested or don't care, 2 think scientists gain more from such collaborations than artists do.  All the artists seemed interested.  So I guess it’s a matter of finding the right scientists - no big surprise.  But we all agreed curiosity is the motivating force for both scientists and artists.

Immunologist Devavani Chatterjea and I have been talking about a melding of our practices.  I asked her to write down some images of the process of immunology, and when she gave them to me I asked for her to make them more pictorial.  She came up with a picture/story that is a wonderful script for a dance.  Meanwhile she came to my studio and did a movement exploration session with me.  So we are reaching some common ground that can be built upon.  Devavani suggested that to get a true idea of what she does it would be good to come to her lab for a period of time (week?) and not only observe but participate, and for her to do the same coming to rehearsals with me.  She teaches at a small college in Minnesota, so it's not exactly close, but doable.  We're having fun playing with different scenarios and she's adding more story images.

Today I'm meeting with chaos/pattern formation physicist Jim Crutchfield.  In his presentation to the group he talked about how he makes objects to help him understand the theories he's working out.  He showed this 3 column flip chart that has physics symbols on the face of each card that is in each column.  It's mechanical so he can turn it on and the cards all flip at the same time.  The most amazing patterns emerge - I of course immediately saw the potential for a dance based on the patterning of the flip chart. So we're meeting to determine if the patterns can be mapped out in a way that will enable me to work with them to put bodies in space.

In the end it doesn't matter to me whether or not most scientists are interested in working with artists, I just need to find the ones that are.  And they're out there.

Maps

I'm consulting the map before I set out for my walk.  Yesterday I mapped out the structure of my dance Neighborhood Stories.  I'm thinking about all the people throughout history who have been map makers.  The explorers who drew amps of unchartered land.  The astronomers who mapped the skies.  The scientists who map the body and brain.  But maps aren't static.  If one part of the brain is damaged, another part can be developed to take over the function ordinarily associated with the damaged area. Or brain signals can get scrambled and there is malfunction like synesthesia.  Remarkably at our first Friday night dinner one of the residents had two guests at dinner who both had synesthesia.  The woman of the couple, who were married to each other, had all 5 senses involved, which is rare.  I couldn't imagine how she could cope without sensory overload.  You could be seeing and tasting at the same time, or hearing and kinesthetically feeling, smelling and seeing colors.  She told me they diagnosed her as a child when she came to school one day and asked if the teacher could hear the song that the grass was singing.  Whatever multiple combinations occur, she's always being bombarded with sensory information.  Must be like a constant drug hallucination.

Are we intrinsically driven to map out things to give order to our lives and the universe we live in?  If we didn't map, would we perceive life as chaos?  Humans are not comfortable with chaos, though chaos exists throughout, not only our planet but also in the universe.