2019
HD screen recording of generative animation created during software performance with molecular visualization software (PyMOL)
TRT: 13 minutes, 6 seconds
Tickling the Bonds is part of a series of videos created using molecular visualization software as an animation tool. Models of folded proteins are disrupted with molecular “sculpting” tools with the mouse cursor hidden during the screen recorded software performances. By using the software in unconventional ways, the animation is a collaborative doodle of sorts between the artist’s hand and the bonding interactions of the molecular structures that are being disrupted. As protein structures are manipulated, the software renders uncanny disturbances between neighboring amino-acid residues.
Tickling the Bonds is part of a series of videos created using molecular visualization software as an animation tool. Models of folded proteins are disrupted with molecular “sculpting” tools with the mouse cursor hidden during the screen recorded software performances. By using the software in unconventional ways, the animation is a collaborative doodle of sorts between the artist’s hand and the bonding interactions of the molecular structures that are being disrupted. As protein structures are manipulated, the software renders uncanny disturbances between neighboring amino-acid residues.
...The artists often use laboratory tools in their work, and training them can also be revealing for the scientists. Senior scientist Tom Charpentier instructed multimedia artist Laura Splan in Pymol, a molecular visualization program he uses all the time. After playing around with it, Splan discovered a function called “sculpting” that allows users to quickly make changes to models of proteins and their interactions. Charpentier didn’t know it was there. “I had never thought about sculpting my models,” he says. “Now I can do things much quicker and visualize things more easily...
...Through a diverse range of media and techniques, Laura Splan weaves a multifarious narrative of science. At times, Splan’s work brings to mind the Brothers Grimm, the miller’s daughter spinning straw into gold, a transmutation of material through manual labor and a bit of magic, unlocking secrets through a process of attribution...
...Splan portrays the scientific process in all of its slowness and setbacks. The sounds and tactile experiences evoke a sanctity of space, creating an ambiance that’s almost reverent in its effect...
Project Support provided by The Science Center Bioart Residency, Integral Molecular, Esther Klein Gallery, The Knight Foundation
Exhibitions include BioBAT Art Space, Esther Klein Gallery, NEW INC
video documentation including "Tickling the Bonds" projection in solo exhibition "Unraveling" at BioBAT Art Space, 2020
