This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Ahhh, fall. Time to look for more indoor activities. And aren't you lucky? Here's a list of sciart exhibits that will warm your heart while you warm your toes.
EXHIBITS: NORTHEAST REGION
CLIMATE CHANGE IN OUR WORLD: Photographs by Gary Braasch
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October 16, 2013 - July 6, 2014
Museum of Science
1 Science Park
Boston, MA
We have made the world of today. Human population growth, energy use, agricultural methods, and land development have all had a measurable effect on our climate. Our activities have raised the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to its highest level in millions of years. The average temperature is climbing out of the range in which living species evolved and is now affecting sea level, ocean acidity, and water availability. Melting ice caps and glaciers, as well as weather extremes, have also resulted from this phenomenon. Although we are already experiencing climate change, we have many options to moderate it and limit its effects, with prompt action curtailing further drastic consequences.
View the works of environmental photojournalist Gary Braasch to observe how climate change is altering our planet. You'll also see how humans are working to slow these changes through alternative energy use and conservation.
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July 1, 2013 - May 2, 2014
Chemical Heritage Foundation Gallery
315 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
Sensing Change, an initiative of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, invites us to explore and respond to daily shifts in our environment as well as long-term climate change. Sensing Change is inspired by scientific investigations, historical accounts, and direct observations of the natural world. Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook using #SensingChange.
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OUT OF HAND: Materializing the Postdigital
October 16, 2013 - July 6, 2014
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle
New York, NY
Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital will explore the many areas of 21st-century creativity made possible by advanced methods of computer-assisted production known as digital fabrication. In today’s postdigital world, artists are using these means to achieve levels of expression never before possible – an explosive, unprecedented scope of artistic expression that extends from sculptural fantasy to functional beauty. Out of Hand will be the first major museum exhibition to examine this interdisciplinary trend through the pioneering works of more than 80 international artists, architects, and designers.
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NATURAL HISTORIES: 400 Years of Scientific Illustration from the Museum’s Library
October 19, 2013 - October 12, 2014
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY
Featuring scientific illustrations spanning five centuries, the new exhibition Natural Histories: 400 Years of Scientific Illustration from the Museum’s Library explores the integral role illustration has played in scientific discovery through 50 striking, large-format reproductions from seminal holdings in the Museum Library’s Rare Book collection. Artists include Albrecht Dürer, Joseph Wolf, Moses Harris, John Woodhouse Audubon, and Maria Sibylla Merian.
EXHIBITS: SOUTH
November 9 - December 1, 2013
Canopy Austin
916 Springdale Rd, Building 3, #102
Austin, TX
Eclosion - the act of an adult insect emerging from its pupal case – symbolizes Art.Science.Gallery.’s transformation from a pop-up gallery to a brick-and-mortar venue.
The exhibition will feature 57 works by 44 artists, which were chosen by an esteemed jury of entomologist-artists Dr. Mark Moffett (National Geographic), Dr. Walter Tschinkel (University of Florida), Dr. David Maddison (Oregon State University) and Dr. Diane Ullman (University of California at Davis). Co-curators Barrett Klein (University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, www.pupating.org) and Hayley Gillespie (Art.Science.Gallery.) have assembled artworks that range from exquisite illustrations to human-insect collaborations. Steven Kutcher’s darkling beetles paint with colored feet while Jennifer Angus’ real and hybrid insects carry out human-like activities. Carel Brest van Kempen’s humans experience insect-like metamorphosis and Vincent Fink’s Lord Worm reigns in Atlas Metamorphosis. ECLOSION aims to increase public appreciation of insects, entomology and biodiversity through the visual arts.
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BIRDS OF PARADISE: Amazing Avian Evolution
October 13, 2013 – March 23, 2014
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
11 West Jones St.
Raleigh, NC
Found only in New Guinea and parts of Australia, birds-of-paradise are a case study in the power of evolution. Their fantastic plumes and bizarre courtship displays are a result of millions of years of sexual selection at work in an environment with plentiful food and no natural predators.
In 2004, Cornell University scientist Edwin Scholes and National Geographic photographer Tim Laman set out to complete the first comprehensive study of all birds-of-paradise. After 8 years and 18 expeditions they have amassed photographic and video coverage of all 39 known species and documented several new behaviors. Fascinating stories of groundbreaking research and adventure paired with amazing footage and photography are the foundation of this highly interactive exhibition. “Birds of Paradise” captures these unique species, with stunning imagery, compelling video, soundscapes, artifacts, and engaging educational activities for all ages.
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October 11, 2013 - January 4, 2014
Center for the Arts Bonita Springs
26100 Old US 41 Road
Bonita Springs, FL
This incredible traveling exhibition encourages visitors to “listen to their inner scientist and indulge their inner artist.” The hands-on, interactive experience illustrates how science and art intersect in real life. Explore extaordinary Origami, wearable computers, 1-Bit music compositions, the difference between macro, micro and nano-scale and much more. A great exhibition for all ages, “Science & Art” will open your mind to the beauty and wonder all around us.
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August 17 - November 9, 2013
Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
710 East St. Mary Blvd.
Lafayette, LA
In much of the work done at the NASA/UL Lafayette Regional Application Center, images from Satellites play a large role in the way we study climate change, weather patterns, natural and man-made disasters, timber stand health and man-kinds development and use of the Earth's resources. In studying these images we also find many of the fundamental elements of fine art such as, tonal quality, image composition and balance. In this exhibition, working with the USGS "Earth As Art" program, utilizing NASA Landsat Satellite Imagery we have comprised images we hope will excite the imagination and entertain your creative fancies.
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September 14 - December 14, 2013
Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
710 East St. Mary Blvd.
Lafayette, LA
The most recent manifestation of artists working at the intersection of art, science and technology demonstrates a distinctly autodidactic, heuristic approach to understanding the physical and natural world. Intimate Science features artists who are engaged in non-disciplinary inquiry; they aren’t allied to the customs of any single field, and therefore have license to reach beyond conventions. This kind of practice hinges on up-close observation, experiential learning, and inventing new ways for the public to participate in the process. And through their engagement with "intimate science,” a more knowledgeable public might well be able to influence what research is supported and adopted by the larger culture, and the walls of science can become more transparent. This exhibit is organized by the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University.
EXHIBITS: MIDWEST
NATURE'S TOOLBOX: Biodiversity, Art and Invention
August 31 - December 15, 2013
Ulrich Museum of Art
Wichita State University
1845 Fairmount Street
Wichita KS
We are all increasingly aware of the impact of humans on the complex patterns of nature in the world around us. And while humans have aggressively studied and catalogued the tremendous diversity of life on Earth for decades, we also consume this planet in countless ways that severely threaten nature itself. Harnessing technology and inspired by nature’s amazing design concepts, this exhibition's innovative, eye-capturing art helps visitors understand and appreciate the life-or-death interdependence between Earth’s 10 to 20 million species--including humans--and the quality of the environment we share. More than 40 artists will be represented with engaging works that demonstrate both the challenging issues facing us all, and our need to learn from nature as we tackle these challenges now and into the future. Organized by Art Works for Change, the exhibition premiered last year at the Field Museum.
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CREATURES OF LIGHT: Nature's Bioluminescence
March 7 - January 5, 2014
Field Museum of Natural History
1400 S. Lakeshore Drive
Chicago, IL
Have you ever captured a glowing firefly? On a warm summer evening, its light seems rare and magical, yet there are thousands of other living things that blink, glow, flash, and flicker. Creatures of Light delves into the mysterious world of bioluminescence – from the glowworms dangling from the ceiling of New Zealand’s famous Waitomo Caves, to the deep-sea fishes that illuminate the perpetually dark depths of the oceans. Discover the variety of ways in which light is used to attract a mate, lure unsuspecting prey, or defend against a predator, and see how scientists study this amazing ability to glow. Immerse yourself in these magical environments and revel in the beauty of this remarkable natural phenomenon, only at The Field Museum.
EXHIBITS: WEST
ABOVE AND BELOW: Stories From Our Changing Bay
August 31, 2013 – February 23, 2014
Oakland Museum of California
1000 Oak Street
Oakland, CA
Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay unveils the quirky stories of how people and nature together have shaped the San Francisco Bay Area over the last 6,000 years. The first major exhibition to be presented with all three of OMCA’s transformed galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences open to the public, the exhibition highlights historic and contemporary place-based stories about the Bay, and engages viewers in discussions about the Bay’s future. Through an extensive use of media featuring oral histories, community voices, and interactives, the exhibition explores how human engineering and natural forces have come together over time to shape and reshape the land and water around the San Francisco Bay, and how sea-level rise, wetlands restoration, invasive species, and climate change are central topics in determining the future of the Bay.
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INTO THE LIGHT: Sun photography by Alan Friedman
September 15 – December 31, 2013
Orange County Great Park Gallery
Sand Canyon and Marine Way
Irvine, CA
Alan Friedman, a self-titled citizen astronomer, points his telescope directly into the light of the sun from his backyard in Buffalo, New York. Using special filters attached to his high definition camera Friedman captures breathtaking images and video, detailing movements in the solar atmosphere that change over hours and sometimes minutes. The raw images are black and white and often blurry, requiring numerous hours of coloring adjusting and finessing to tease out the finest details.
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The Photography Of Modernist Cuisine: The Exhibition
October 26, 2013 - February 17, 2014
Pacific Science Center
200 Second Avenue North
Seattle, WA
Introducing The Photography of Modernist Cuisine: The Exhibition, a showcase of the stunning imagery produced by Nathan Myhrvold and his team at The Cooking Lab. It offers visitors a unique perspective on food in which the aesthetic beauty of plants, animals and cooking phenomena illuminates the fascinating, accessible science at work in our kitchens every day. With 100 large-scale images, guests will witness and explore the science of food through the lens of photography. See the fractal structures and mesmerizing color gradations of vitamin C crystals through research microscopes with special filters that polarize light. Learn about the physics that propels and explodes a bursting kernel of popcorn through the lens of a high-speed video camera that slows down the action by a factor of 200. This unprecedented collection of captivating images uses these innovations and other advanced technologies to show the world of food from a whole new angle.
EXHIBITS: ABROAD
through February 2, 2014
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
Experience the power of science and art with the premiere of Carbon 14: Climate is Culture at the ROM. Curated by David Buckland and Claire L. Sykes, and produced by Cape Farewell in partnership with ROM Contemporary Culture, Carbon 14: Climate is Culture explores the growing global issue of climate change through the eyes of scientists, artists and cultural informers. Art and science come together in this engaging and provocative exhibition, two years in the making.
EXHIBITS: ONLINE
Science Art-Nature's WINDOWS ON EVOLUTION: An Artistic Celebration of Charles Darwin
The University of Tennessee's EARLY IMAGES OF EGYPT: Selected Images of Egypt in the Photographic Archive Collection of the Frank H. McClung Museum
Know of something we haven't listed here? Send me an email at symbiartic (dot) km (at) gmail (dot) com, or tweet me @eyeforscience with the deets. If it's scienceart related, it's fair game.