Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae is a peer-reviewed, non-funded, independent, quarterly academic journal. All rights of featured content of website and PDF publication are reserved. Editor in Chief: Giovanni Aloi. 2017
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
At a time in which the obscurantism of political leaders and wealthy elites discredits scientific knowledge, the photographic evidence of a black hole stands as a major testament to science’s determination, drive, and ability to ask brave questions and to find answers. This accomplishment is an undeniable proof of the global collaborative spirit necessary to accomplish unthinkable feats and to envision the secret workings of the universe beyond our biological and conceptual boundaries. Unlike other images taken of more familiar celestial bodies, this image is drenched in an existentialist kind of poetic that transcends the purely scientific real. And could this image be considered art at a time in which many artists work like scientists, adopt scientific tools, language, and methodologies to produce their work? as
It is in this spirit that the next two issues of Antennae explore the rising interest in art and science collaborations. This project is co-edited in collaboration with American artist and philosopher Jonathon Keats whose bold experiments have raised serious questions and put into practice his conviction that the world needs more “curious amateurs,” willing to explore publicly whatever intrigues them in defiance of a culture that increasingly forecloses on wonder and silos knowledge into narrowly defined areas of expertise.
A team of scholars and artists has also helped us with the task of selecting some of the most exciting representatives of this ever-growing movement. As always, we would like to thank everyone involved in the making of this issue.
This essay examines the – seemingly marginal – practice of occupying abandoned and/or neglected spaces (literally “squatting”) within university and institutional space. MORE >>
The authors argue the importance of under-standing the different forms of art and science interaction, and that precision of terminology matters for recognising respective validities and
pushing interactions further into common practice.” MORE >>
Jim Supanic explores the enlistment of the nonhuman animal as a conceptual model in the work of composer Alvin Lucier, and its vestigial presence in the installations of artist James Turrell. MORE >>
In this exclusive interview with Giovanni Aloi, Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr unpack the role played by different cultural institutions, research settings, cultural workers (artists, curators, and critics), popular media, and industry in their dealings with biotechnological artifacts. MORE >>
An artist reflects on research-based practice, the conception of a special committee Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Arts and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the privileges of working, learning, and teaching at the intersections of disciplines. MORE >>
Recent works by artists Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson engage computing, geology and methods of forming sound. Here they present some thoughts related to their inquiries into stones, metals and data infrastructures. MORE >>
Byron Rich and Liz Flyntz, the collaborative artist duo responsible for Epicurean Endocrinology, discuss food, gender, sex, product design, environmental degradation, and commun-icating scientific knowledge to non-professional audiences. MORE >>
This article situates the process of artistic enquiry within the realm of molecular biology and new biotechnological practices. Using a research-based format, the artist investigates how variegation is produced in plants and bacterium, and asks if natural biological processes can be artistically echoed, interfered with, and synthetically designed. MORE >>
Jonathon Keats has founded the Reciprocal Biomimicry Initiative, a program dedicated to adapting human technologies to benefit other organisms. In this thought-provoking article followed by an interview, Keats provides original opportunties to rethink the world we live in through philosophy and science. MORE >>
Pei-Ying Lin main research focuses on the combination of science and human society through artistic methods. She is particularly interested in building a common discussion ground for different cultural perspective regarding elements that construct our individual perception of the world. MORE >>
Dr. Eugenia Cheng talks about the challenges and rewards involved in teaching mathematics to art students and tells us how mathematics can change the world. MORE >>
A unique nexus of art, science, geometry, and environmental reflection, Crochet Coral Reef is an ever-evolving archipelago of woolen instal-lations that not only emulates the structures of natural reefs but alsoenacts the evolutionary processes by which living things evolve.
This portfolio of work by Andy Gracie frames the notion of scientific experiment as both performative act in which anticipation and intrigue can play prominent roles, and as producer of new phenomena. MORE >>
Algorithmic Photography is an innovative technique developed by artist Alex May, which explores the concepts of motion and time within contemporary digital photography.
COGITO in Space is an experiential narrative sending thoughts into outer space as radio waves. The project exists both as a mobile installation and as experiential performative event staged inside the cabin of the Dwingeloo radio telescope in The Netherlands.
What happens to the scientific process when mathematics is substituted with poetry? The German poet and amateur scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe did just that in his quest to formulate his own theory of colour in the book Zur Farbenlehre.
In this essay, Gemma Anderson advances an original outline of the relationship between Goethe’s concept of morphology and Klee’s art. Central to this is the atypical consideration of certain works by Paul Klee as morphological studies.