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The SciArt Buzz

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


This week's buzz:

SCIART LECTURES/EVENTS**NEW**Donate to Palaces | Here's a unique opportunity: Gina Czarnecki, a UK-based artist, is teaming up with the Tooth Fairy to create a palace of teeth. She's requesting donations from the public to make this artwork happen. In her words: "The Palace will grow over time like a cluster of stalagmites or coral, to form a fantastical palace-like structure made of thousands of milk teeth."SCIART EXHIBITS**NEW**Artway Invitational Gallery (Liverpool, UK): Dec. 9, 2011 - Feb. 19, 2012 | Gina Czarnecki Retrospective | Ground-breaking new media artist Gina Czarnecki makes films, installations, public art works and sculpture which emphasize human relationships to disease, evolution and genetic research. The exhibition features several film installations including the UK premiere of Contagion, a large-scale, interactive work that explores parallels between biological infection and the spread of information, knowledge, rumour and myth. The exhibit also features Czarnecki’s latest works such as "Wasted," a series of sculptures that explore the use of human tissue in art, the life-giving potential of ‘discarded’ body parts and their relationship to myths and history.

American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY): Nov. 19 - Aug. 12, 2012 | Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration | Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration, a new exhibition that offers a vision of the future of space travel as it boldly examines humanity's next steps in our solar system and beyond. The exhibition features a re-creation of a lunar habitat, a model of a space elevator rising up from the surface of the Moon, one of the world's largest color holograms depicting 1,000 exoplanets, and engaging, immersive simulations. The exhibition celebrates the pioneering accomplishments of both manned and unmanned space missions and considers the critical partnership of robotic spacecraft and astronauts as humanity journeys farther beyond Earth.


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**NEW**GV Art Gallery 49 Chiltern Street (London, UK): Dec. 2, 2011 - Feb. 18, 2012 | Trauma: Group Show | Under the banner of the Art and Science series, this new exhibition at GV Art seeks to expand cross-disciplinary collaboration amongst artist, scientist and community. This exhibition attempts to understand the various manifestations of trauma both natural and man-made; revealing the intimate experience of those who live with trauma while also investigating perceptions of sometimes concealed mental distress. The artists involved in this project employ a diversity of approaches, charting the full dimensions of trauma from the micro-molecular to those on a global environmental scale.

Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Sant Ocean Hall Focus Gallery (Washington, DC): Sept. 3, 2011-Jan. 8, 2012 | The Bright Beneath: The Luminous Art of Shih Chieh Huang | Artist Shih Chieh Huang spent a good part of 2007 exploring specimens of deep-ocean animals found in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History. He was a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow and was investigating the unusual evolutionary adaptations that allow these creatures to live in environments unthinkable to humans. One adaptation, called bioluminescence, inspired Huang to create haunting installations that will be suspended in the Sant Ocean Hall Focus Gallery in a temporary exhibition.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Ebling Library for the Health Sciences (Madison, WI): Sept. 16, 2011-Jan. 31, 2012 | Beyond the Edge of the Sea. Illustrations by preeminent deep sea watercolorist/illustrator, Karen Jacobsen | This traveling exhibit from The College of William & Mary's Muscarelle Museum of Art features the magnificent watercolors of expeditionary illustrator Karen Jacobsen. Jacobsen had multiple voyages in the Alvin submersible, with oceanographer Cindy Lee Van Dover at the helm, exploring the deep ocean and rendering these wonderful works of art. Reception on Nov. 11 will feature Jacobsen and Van Dover talking about their joint project.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History (Atlanta, GA): Sept. 24, 2011-Jan. 1, 2012 | Darwin: Selections | In celebration of Darwin, Fernbank Museum has partnered with local artists and scientists to present a collection of illustrations, paintings and drawings that reveal the relationship between science and art. These eight Atlanta- and Athens-based artists, typically employed to create teachable science through literal imagery, reveal the evolution of art from science in this inspiring exhibition that recognizes the beauty of the natural world.

SCIART CONFERENCES

ScienceOnline2012 | January 19-21, 2012 | North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) | The science art track is looking good!

The British Science Association's Science Communication Conference 2012 | May 14-15, 2012 | Kings Place (London, UK) | Now accepting proposals for sessions

**NEW**The European Science Foundation's Conference 2012: Images and Visualization: Imaging Technology, Truth and Trust | Sept. 17-21, 2012 | Scandic Linköping Vast, SwedenSCIART DEADLINES

EUZOOS-XXI International Biological Art Contest | Deadline for submission:

December 15, 2011**NEW**Catalan Association for Science Communication still editing | Deadline for submission: December 24, 2011SHAMELESS PLUGS

Check out the piece Glendon did to accompany Jason Goldman's Halloween post on The Thoughtful Animal: Real Life Werewolves? Dog Bites and Full Moons.

Also, the University of Chicago did a nice feature on me and my paleoartist colleagues, Carol Abraczinskas and Tyler Keillor: Artists help push science forward

Finally, the holidays are around the corner and as such, Glendon is debuting a line of iPhone 4 covers with his art on them. Way cool. He's also offering 2012 calendars with his science-themed art. Geek out and support a great artist at the same time!

Every week or two, we post interesting exhibits, lectures, and other science-art related news we hear about. Know about something we don't? Shoot me an email at symbiartic.km-at-gmail-dot-com and we'll post all relevant events. This information is also available on a public Google calendar. Under "other calendars" click on "add a friend's calendar" and search for symbiartic.km-at-gmail-dot-com.