The Sticky Space Between Art and Science
Laura Splan and Adam Lamson In Conversation with Salome Asega
Presented by the Simons Foundation
Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium
New York, NY
Friday, May 20, 2022
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. In Conversation
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Reception
Adam Lamson, Ph.D., Flatiron Research Fellow, Biophysical Modeling, CCB, Flatiron Institute
Laura Splan, Transdisciplinary Artist
Salome Asega, new media artist / director of NEW INC
A free event series, Simons Foundation Presents aims to create a space for conversations about science and its broader societal and cultural relevance. Each event pairs one of our 200 researchers with special guests to discuss the intersection of their work. Afterwards, we invite everyone in the audience to continue the conversation together over refreshments in a relaxed atmosphere.
Some of the most exciting collaborations happen between people from seemingly disparate backgrounds. Theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson and interdisciplinary artist Laura Splan have recently embarked on a journey to rematerialize and revisualize biological structures that exist on a molecular scale. Together, they are using Lamson’s models and simulations to produce a series of collaborative artworks that will manifest in the forms of weavings, sound and animations. They hope that by unlocking new spaces that exist at the intersection of art and science, they will explore the potential for an intuitive understanding of these highly complex structures in a way that will “stick” with broader audiences.
Join Lamson and Splan as they sit down with Salome Asega, director of NEW INC at the New Museum, to discuss their collaborative process and ongoing endeavor to co-create innovative artworks that invite people to contemplate and consider the invisible complexities of the biophysical world.
Project Website: StickySettings.com
Salome Asega is a new media artist and the director of NEW INC, a creative incubator at the New Museum. She is a 2022 United States Artist Fellow in Media, and has previously exhibited at the Shanghai Biennale, MoMA, Carnegie Library, August Wilson Center, Knockdown Center, and elsewhere. Asega sits on the boards of Eyebeam, National Performance Network, and the Guild of Future Architects. She received her MFA from Parsons at The New School in Design and Technology where she teaches classes on speculative design and participatory design methodologies.
Adam Lamson joined the Simons Foundation in 2020 as part of the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Biology’s Biophysical Modeling and Genomics groups. His research focuses on simulating active filament networks using computational and analytic techniques. These models are being used to study cytoskeletal self-assembly and chromatin organization. Before coming to the foundation, he received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Laura Splan is a transdisciplinary artist working at the intersections of science, technology, and culture. Her research-driven projects connect hidden artifacts of biotechnology to everyday lives through embodied interactions and sensory engagement. The Centers for Disease Control Foundation and the Triënnale Brugge have commissioned her artworks exploring biomedical imaginaries. Her work appeared at the Museum of Arts and Design, Pioneer Works and New York Hall of Science and is represented in the collections of the Thoma Art Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, NYU’s Langone Art Collection, and the Berkeley Art Museum. As a member of the New Museum’s NEW INC Creative Science incubator, her research included collaborations with scientists to interrogate interspecies entanglements in the contemporary biotechnological landscape. Her recent exhibitions featuring molecular animations and material artifacts of laboratory animals include her large-scale immersive installation in the Brooklyn Army Terminal at BioBAT Art Space. In addition, Splan creates public engagement with her projects to make concepts and techniques behind her work accessible to audiences with programming, including everything from all ages bacterial transformation workshops to remote textiles collaborations.
Envent Documentation Photography by Arin Sang-Urai for Simons Foundation
