SCI-ART: It’s all in the GUT (Grand Unified Theory)

M-1000


For the past couple
of months, New York has been hosting the “DNAge Citywide Festival for the
50th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Double-Helix.” Numerous arts exhibitions
including “How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era” are being held at
the International Center of Photography (ICP) (through May 25). Ever since the
cloned sheep Dolly made its entrance into the world, the development of genetic
research has introduced new understanding of today’s science and its startling
research capabilities. At times, as instigator or skeptic, the artist stands
with scientists, sometimes steps ahead and questioning the meaning to it all.



Other than the
hype over DNA research however, a new landscape of science-art explorations is
surfacing. In the forefront of celebrating sciences, there is the world of physics.
Currently, scientists and artists are focusing their attention on Albert Einstein
and his legacy. The field of quantum physics makes its voice heard through an
up lifting exhibition, “Einstein,” showing at the American Museum of
Natural History in New York (through August 10, www.amnh.org). This show elaborately
displays biographic documentation of Einstein’s life as well as the history
and the makings of his life’s scientific work. Most importantly, this exhibition
has become a great catalyst for artists to revisit or re-introduce their work
dealing with the world of theoretical physics, and especially artwork inspired
by Einstein’s Grand Unified Theory or GUT.


Einstein once mentioned
that “God does not play dice with the Universe,” implying that there
was a certain unified order to the world. GUT (also known as Unified Field Theory)
argues that before the Big Bang explosion there was a moment of singularity.
In cosmic history, the moment of singularity meant that all four forces of the
Universe (gravity, electro-magnetic force, nuclear strong and nuclear weak forces)
existed as a single force. It is no wonder that an omnipotent being is usually
alluded to when a Universe is thought of as originating from an absolute single
force explaining its causation. There is a level of mysticism to mathematical
concepts that reveal the fundamental laws and constants of nature. The mathematical
concept PI (3.14…), Fibonacci’s Golden Section numbers (±0·61803
39887... and ±1·61803 39887…) and the Alpha constants (137.03599976)
are just some that project evidence in this perspective of scientific and mathematical
world order. Today, the most recent development of GUT theory is known as the
superstrings theory, a theory that speaks about multiples of curled up and tenth
dimensional Universes with an underlying common thread of existence: that all
things at their most microscopic level are made up of vibrating energy string
loops. As artists contemplate about the origin of human and cosmic existence,
this sort of harmonized world order and its theological connotations has become
a topic of artwork.


For starters, to
match the theme of the “Einstein” exhibition, Cynthia Pannucci, founder
of the Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI, www.asci.org), brilliantly
orchestrated the annual “DIGITAL ’02” exhibition and “ArtSci2002”
International Symposium to work in conjunction to honor Einstein, reflecting
on his influence on art and science collaborations today. The digital print show
entitled, “Envisioning Time, Space, and the Future” was the 5th International
Competition exhibition (juried by Julia Van Haaften) that was exhibited at the
Technology Gallery, New York Hall of Science and the Taranto Gallery, Chelsea,
New York, during the fall and winter of 2002. Over 20 artists, scientists, and
hybrids of the two, all showed artwork in a form of digital printmaking. The
common theme carried by the prints were scientific phenomena or technologies
that have been developed as a result of Einstein’s influence such as X-rays,
MRIs, GPS, etc. (http://asci.org/digital2002/)


For ASCI’s
“ArtSci” symposium component, the keynote event took place at the Museum
of Natural History, with the presentation of one of the most interesting art-science
collaboration that dealt precisely with superstrings theory. Brian Greene, a
physicist and author of the best selling book, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings,
Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, (W.W. Norton &
Co., Inc., ‘99) began the evening symposium with “Einstein’s Legacy
Inspires New Art” and introduced a team-effort arts project titled Superstrings:
A Multi-media Performance Celebrating Science and Art. With the collaboration
of acclaimed choreographer Sandra Kaufmann, rising-star playwright and videographer
Michael Bassett, classical to modern dance music composer Pat Daugherty, and
with Greene’s theory as their inspiration, this production artistically
portrays the multi-facet aspects to superstrings theory with a multi-media, dance-driven
theatre event. A quantum theory that explains the makings of a world with fundamental
elements known as vibrating strings is the perfect match for a theatre piece
that uses the quantum metaphors of strings as musical notes or choreographed
movements. Here, dancers represent vibrating strings while all of the other components,
such as music, costumes, lights, and props, contribute to opening a dialog about
the science of superstrings theory.

The media component
of video in Superstrings also plays a crucial role in the piece. Bassett’s
video projections show animation clips that are mirrored backdrop to the content
of the play and visually illustrate different concepts of superstrings theory.
The play was staged with one actor taking the part of two twin characters. This
was possible due to the second entering the play as a video projection image.
Thus, the single actor was playing two roles, one as the real physical self and
the other as the virtual extension that would interact with the original self.
In sense, the video component echoes another layer to the main actor’s character
as a split of two personalities, one being a twin who is an architect living
in the real world versus the other twin who is a jazz musician living in the
quantum world. As in our cosmic world, for the beginning and the ending, the
twins are united as a single person. It is as if before the Big Bang and after
the Big Crunch, the moments of singularity in the Universe are held together
with the superstrings theory that portrays a united single character in the play.
Indeed, superstrings as the mother theory (theory of everything) of physics makes
a whole lot of sense when you think of what the play represents with respect
to the cosmic understanding of our quantum origin. For the future, this on-going
project is being developed as a workshop and a traveling production for various
cultural and educational venues. (http://asci.org/artsci2002/keynote.htm)


If superstrings
theory can be translated as a range of harmonics, an installation project proposal
called 95* Chimes by New York artist Debra Swack comes into mind. The proposal
is based on the artist using the harmonics of chime to relate strings theory
to music. Referencing ancient cultures such as the Egyptians or Hindus that explain
‘sound’ as the basic source of their creation mythologies, Swack takes
the sound phenomenon as the core element of the modern science/creation mythology
of superstrings. Swack states that since, “superstrings theory claims that
all matter exists as a result of the harmonics created by unimaginably small
vibrating strings, 95* Chimes provides a three-dimensional musical metaphor for
these tiniest elements of matter and the vibrations, harmonies and energies they
produce.” The installation would have audio speakers projecting sounds of
individually recorded wind chime noise that together resonate a piece of “sculptural”
music. Depending on where you stood in the room, a difference in the level of
blending and layering of the chime-based composition would slightly shift. ( )


Another artist
Carol Pfeffer, who has a background in physics, is working on a project series
called Unified Field Theory and Local Geometric Topologies. She has developed
a cameraless contact technique to make one of a kind prints. To explore the process
between the interaction of density and space, she uses watercolor and ink suspended
in a transluscent medium and captures a moment of exposure. In the end, this
image, captured by the exposed moment, is reversed by emulsion transfer. Pfeffer
states that “this project interprets the inter-reaction of matter and space
as a function of local topology challenging the popular String theory and other
unified field theories. The work examines how density and mass behave in a local
space and in turn how the local properties influence surrounding matter. Specific
effects depend upon whether the local space is Euclidean, spherical or hyperbolic.”
( ) Furthermore, Agnes Denes, one of the pioneer artist of environmental
art and a leader in art, science and technology integration recently had her
retrospective, “Agnes Denes: Projects for Public Places,” at the Samek
Art Gallery of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. She was one of
the first artists to write a scientific book titled, Book of Dust: The Beginning
and the End of Time and Thereafter, (Limited Edition, Visual Studies Workshop
Press, ‘89) and has made numerous artwork dealing with the GUT. (http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/samek_artgallery/denes.html)


M-1000 is the pen
name of artist MINALIZA1000 ( ). The SCI-ART article series
is made possible with assistance from Art & Science Collaborations, Inc (ASCI).
(www.asci.org) Since April 2003, a secondary
publication of the SCI-ART article series has been translated into Korean and
published in the Art Magazine Wolgan Misool, a monthly arts magazine of Seoul,
Korea. (www.wolganmisool.com)