CCA News
Art and Science Mix it up at QB3/CCA Event
Posted on Tuesday, April 6, 2010, by Chris Bliss
It lies just across the railroad tracks from the California College of the Arts San Francisco campus, yet it seems like a world away. UCSF’s Mission Bay campus is a sprawling complex with thousands of scientists working on complex projects that are too esoteric for our community of artists, architects, designers, and writers. Or so we thought.
The myth that scientists and artists don’t have much in common was busted at a recent event hosted by California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) and California College of the Arts (CCA). More than 100 persons gathered at UCSF’s Genentech Hall on March 16 to hear four short presentations on the theme of innovation by two scientists from UCSF and two designers from CCA.
QB3 Director Regis Kelly, CCA President Stephen Beal, and retired chairman of Morgan Stanley, Jack Wadsworth, cooked up the idea for the event over dinner one night. Creativity, innovation, experimentation, and collaboration were the common threads of their conversation, as they brainstormed ways to engage the nascent energy of the diverse Mission Bay community.
Emcee David Meckel, director of planning at CCA, did the honors by introducing the speakers.
What Do You Get When You Mix Bacteria, Salt, Cardboard, and Video Games?
First up was associate professor Christopher A. Voigt, a synthetic biologist, molecular biophysicist, and engineer. His research focuses on the reprogramming of bacterial organisms to perform coordinated, complex tasks for pharmaceutical and industrial applications.
One of the projects he discussed was how researchers in his lab reprogrammed bacteria to print photos by combining genetic material from various organisms. Voigt pointed out the cool thing about the burgeoning field of synthetic biology is that if you want to study, for example, certain bacteria that live on the tooth of a komodo dragon, instead of traveling to a remote Indonesian island and risking life and limb, you can download the genetic code sent from a fellow scientist!
CCA Industrial Design student Lucas Ainsworth then stepped up to the podium to present two projects. He recounted the process behind his design of Jungle Walkers, flat die-cut cardboard animals that can be assembled and then made to move. The concept has been picked up by a manufacturer and will soon be in production.
Next he presented his proposal for a hemispheric camera, developed in an industrial design studio sponsored by Intel, which would take 180-degree photographs. Unlike a photo taken with a fisheye lens wherein the image is distorted, photos would be stored and viewed in the way the photographer actually experienced the scene. The project elicited oohs and aahs from the audience.
Neurologist Adam Gazzaley directs a cognitive neuroscience laboratory at UCSF that focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms of memory and attention, how these processes change with normal aging and dementia, and how we might intervene to improve cognitive ability.
He spoke about his work with LucasArts to develop video games to track brain activity and ultimately improve memory. He admitted that the goals of the game designers and scientists were often at odds, noting that fast-paced, complex, action-packed games may be more fun, but they prove to be too much for tracking brain behavior in the lab. “We usually settle on medium fun,” Gazzaley admitted.
The final speaker of the evening was architect Thom Faulders, associate professor in Architecture at CCA. He expressed his interest in exploring the interfaces among space, perception, and context and the dynamic relationship between users and environments.
He then spoke about the thought processes behind several built and hypothetical projects, including a proposal for Dubai that features an ever-growing facade of saltwater deposits that would create a vibrant white surface—or “skin”—on the outside of the building.
His BAMscape, a hybrid of sculpture, furniture, and stage was commissioned by UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) and is currently on display in the museum.
The interplay among art and design and leading-edge life sciences continued to be the hot topic at the reception, which followed the presentations, as audience members and presenters enjoyed food and drink, played with Ainsworth’s cardboard animals, and imagined how they might work together.
Future Plans
The two institutions hope to host another mixer later in the year. QB3’s Regis Kelly expressed his desire for Mission Bay to become a “hotbed of innovation of all sorts, independent of context.” President Beal said he hoped these kinds of exchanges would spark some interesting and productive collaborations among the artists and designers at CCA and the scientists at QB3.
If the audience’s enthusiastic reaction was any indication, each community would certainly welcome more reasons to cross the railroad tracks!