serial faces: the scientist series
serial faces: the scientist series began as large-scale patterns made of construction paper, depicting famous scientists. The intention is for viewers’ bodies to play a role in re-cognition of each visual metaphor - the closer they are to a piece, the more texture they see; the further away they are, the more comprehensible the complete image.
First, were Einstein, Hawking and Feynman (relativity, A Brief History & Six Easy Pieces); by default, I found myself re-creating European men, and wondered how I might question the influences of lesser known scientists.
Next, I hit upon what might be considered ’scientists forgotten.’ This led me to Rosalind Franklin (female scientist who first visualized the double helix, without credit), Mohammad Bin Musa Al-Khawarizmi (mathematician that conceptualized the number zero, and whose name gave rise to the term ‘algorithm’) and the Dogon of Mali (African tribe who first discovered the star, po tolo, which is invisible to the naked eye). With the content, my media changed. Franklin’s pattern (double standard) is a large-scale duratran print presented on a light box, giving the feel of an X-Ray, with a double helix embedded on her chest. Al-Khawarizmi’s (zero & not one) eyes are only seen, as a one-bit pattern (two colors only) constructed of gold and hand-made paper. po tolo depicts one of the famous masks of the Dogon of Mali; it is hand-made and tracing paper, and presented in double-sided glass to let light shine through.
Finally, I began to question what it means to be a scientist, and explored important persons who simply changed the way we see. Satyagraha depicts Gandhi, using white paper on white paper for an understated re-presentation of what is more commonly called passive resistance. palindrome re-presents Nelson Mandela out of sandpaper, and memorial uses an inverse pattern to construct Maya Lin, black-on-black.
selection of images:
Click on any thumbnail for full image, then use arrow keys or mouse to navigate through them.
