Science in the dark

Posted on July 6, 2007 by cicada

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An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768)
Joseph Wright of Derby

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An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump – detail
(view zoomed image at the National Gallery of London)

Wouldn’t it be excellent if science was still conducted in darkened, intimate chambers lit by candles, as in these wonderful paintings – part of a series of posts on chiaroscuro at { feuilleton }?

Sure, you could get the same dramatic effect by holding lab meeting huddled over a UV transilluminator – but oh, the inconvenient mutagenesis.

Posted in Artists & Art, Museum Lust, Science | 2 Comments

DWM overload

Posted on July 6, 2007 by cicada

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portrait of James Ferguson, astronomer

Oh, look! Legions of Dead White Males with (natural laws, anatomical parts, minerals, equations, geological features, organisms, diseases, scientific societies) named after them! And some little prankster drew spectacles on Ferguson.

Scientific Identity: Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology

via

Posted in Artists & Art, Museum Lust, Science | Comments Off

“Deeply superficial?” – art/book links for July

Posted on July 5, 2007 by cicada

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The Babylonian Marriage Market
Edwin Longsden Long

Damien Hirst is, as usual, hot hot hot. Even hotter than July in the era of global warming. But in Prospect Magazine‘s article Doubting Damien, Ben Lewis compares Damien Hirst with the Victorian artist Edwin Longsden Long (above). Long’s work “seemed original and urgent” and sold for sensational prices in his own time, but is now ignored. Will the same thing happen to Hirst? Lewis isn’t sure:

The real difficulty with coming to a judgment on Hirst is that contemporary art theory does not permit one to assess whether an artist’s work is superficial or deep, because it’s virtually impossible to tell the difference between a banal work of art and one that takes banality as its theme, or between a simple work of art and a simplistic one. A critic could spend hours trying to decide if something is superficially superficial or deeply superficial—and never come up with an answer.

“Superficially superficial, or deeply superficial?” The same excellent, yet nearly meaningless question could apply to Jeffrey Vallance’s show Relics and Reliquaries.

Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art | 3 Comments

When Vampires get tenure

Posted on July 5, 2007 by cicada

Self-described “exhibition of weirds” Farrago’s Wainscot has a suspiciously convincing webpage for Associate Professor of Sanguinary History Anna S. Oppenhagen-Petrescu, from class syllabi to CV – including the preface of her new book, snarky footnotes, and slightly ambiguous encomiums from her adviser/mentor/maker:

In my 250 years of scholarship, I had never met such an ambitious, ravenous, or charming young classicist as Anna. As work on her dissertation progressed, it became clear to me that I could serve the Community in the most profound way by Converting this young creature, despite my reservations regarding her gender. Nevertheless, I felt that my duty to the academic world was greater than my duty to personal taste, and with a clear conscience I brought Anna into the fold. My expectations have been exceeded time and time again by her exceptional career.

Via

Posted in Frivolity, Littademia, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Absolutely hilarious

Posted on July 4, 2007 by cicada

From the Guardian: scientists and non-scientists attempt to answer basic science questions. Example:

Q: Roughly how old is the earth?

A: Oh blimey. Well, I know that human beings have been going for about a million and a half years, so … I’m just grasping here. Something like 60 billion years or something like that, but that’s a grasp. I’m not a physical scientist and it shows. I’m probably not scientifically literate.

That answer was from a professor of neuropharmacology. (I’m not good with numbers either, so I’ll shut up now.)

Via

Posted in Frivolity, Science, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

How much do I need this?

Posted on July 4, 2007 by cicada

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Yeah, that’s right – it’s serotonin! Raven Hanna remixed her biophysics PhD with design and got neurotransmitter-based jewelry. Never mind diamonds–these have got to pack a pretty powerful placebo effect, don’t you think?

I want the serotonin necklace and the charm bracelet (mix your own neuroactive cocktail for the day!) It’s way cheaper than Zoloft, and prettier, and lasts longer. Plus, if anyone recognizes it, you know you’re in for an unusually good conversation. . .

Hooray for another biologist turned artist!

More: CEN interview with Raven
The Scientist interview with Raven

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Frivolity | 1 Comment

News of the Blogosphere

Posted on July 3, 2007 by cicada

Happy and sad news on two of my favorite blogs:

1. Congratulations to the excellent Neurophilosophy on joining the ScienceBorg, ahem, Scienceblogs collective! I had fun last week making a few little banners to celebrate the upgrade. Yay!

2. Table of Malcontents has been egregiously euthanized by the nefarious Wired.  Boo!  But ToM bloggers John Brownlee and Eliza Gauger have promised a new blog, which will hopefully retain the spirit of the old. . .

3. I’ve updated my blogroll to include these and some other wonderful blogs I read regularly.

Posted in Blogs and Blogging | 1 Comment

Dude, this book ys for real?

Posted on July 3, 2007 by cicada

Hey. . . where’s that essay I wrote twelve years ago on narrative unreliability in Monty Python and the Holy Grail? I think its time has come!

(They also need a chapter on the reification of puns.)

Cultural Studies of the Modern Middle Ages

Table of contents

PART I: MEDIEVAL, REALITY, TELEVISION
Models of (Im)Perfection: Parodic Refunctioning in Spike TV’s The Joe Schmo Show and Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Tale of Sir Thopas”–Kimberly K. Bell

“She appears as brightly radiant as she once was foul”: Medieval Conversion Narratives and Contemporary Makeover Shows”–Angela Jane Weisl

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: Moral Lessons from Handlyng Synne and Survivor–Cynthia A. Ho and James Driggers

Back to the Future: Living the Liminal Life in the Manor House and the Medieval Dream Vision–Betsy McCormick
 

PART III: MEDIEVAL, REALITY, POLITICS
The Crisis of Legitimation in Bush’s American and Henry IV’s England–Daniel T. Kline

Torture, Inquisition, Medievalism, Reality, TV–Steve Guthrie

Wolves, Outlaws, and Enemy Combatants–Michael E. Moore

Exteriority Is Not a Negation But a Marvel: Hospitality, Terrorism, Levinas, Beowulf–Eileen A. Joy 

Posted in Frivolity, Littademia | 2 Comments

I meant to punningly reify that. . . sure I did!

Posted on July 2, 2007 by cicada

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Fly Away Home
Watercolor

Three of my watercolors appear in the new Fantasy Illustrator’s Technique Book , by Gary Lippincott. I was supposed to get a copy from the publisher, but no copy materialized, so I finally popped over to Amazon and ordered one, just to see if they had mishandled my babies. What a pleasant surprise! Not only is it a very pretty book (I expected as much from Gary, of course), but the text the editors have written to accompany my paintings made me laugh out loud. Check out their commentary on my painting Fly Away Home:

Giving your audience the unexpected is a large part of fantasy art. This painting’s title, Fly Away Home, is punningly reified as one end of the mobile home gradually breaks down into a flock of birds. It’s more than a clever visual trick. The narrative effect comes from the question posed to the viewer: At some time in the past, did a flock of birds become the mobile home?

To which insightful question I can confidently respond, “What?”

Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Books, My Artwork | 16 Comments

I like this result

Posted on July 2, 2007 by cicada

The Classic Dames Test
Your Score: Katharine Hepburn
You scored 14% grit, 52% wit, 38% flair, and 2% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.

OK Cupid’s Classic Dames Test

(Katherine also said, “Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don’t do that by sitting around wondering about yourself.” Amen).

via

Posted in Frivolity | 6 Comments