Particle Detectors Subatomic Bomb Squad

Dr. Don Lincoln explains how  bomb detection methods are similar to how physicists hunt for particles after proton collisions at the LHC. This film is really funny and educational. Very entertaining!

Tim Hunkin: Tinkerer's Clock

I love it when Tim Hunkin says "I'd rather make a clock than a lump of art".

Ori Gersht's Big Bang

Here is another sort of big bang...

Michael Swaine: "Mending for the People" Tenderloin National Forest, San...

How quantum mechanics explains global warming - Lieven Scheire

Animation 'The Bottle to Bang'

This is one of the clearest descriptions of how the Large Hadron Collider in Cern works.

IFL Science Top Ten Questions Scientist's Ask

Physicist Brian Cox once said: “I'm comfortable with the unknown—that’s the point of science. There are places out there, billions of places out there, that we know nothing about. And the fact that we know nothing about them excites me, and I want to go out and find out about them. And that's what science is. So I think if you’re not comfortable with the unknown, then it’s difficult to be a scientist… I don’t need an answer. I don’t need answers to everything. I want to have answers to find.” 

IFL Science lists the top 10 questions scientist's ask.

Tod Johnson's home made Particle Accelerator

You don't need to travel to see how a particle accelerator works. Here's a little DIY project to explain how they work.

Art Coco: Singapore's Sticker Lady and Activist Artist

Bert Benally Making Art for the Navajo Nation

When ever an artist is working outside the traditional art market, I pay attention. Artist Bert Benally uses his cultural foundation as a member of the Navajo Nation to build art that not only relates to his traditions but uses modern technologies.

Manufactured River Work in Progress: Chemical Analysis

Embroidered napkins, cotton and linen fabric on linen canvas

 Getting ready for my show of "Manufactured River" on November 5th at Oak Park Public Library

I'm working on the last piece for Manufactured River. This is a work in progress relating to chemical analysis. Chemicals we ingest and substances on the surface of our streets eventually find their way into our water. This piece is about making the connection between our actions and our water environment. 

I'll be assembling all the parts of this piece over the next 2 weeks.

The Existence and Value of Nothing

Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory

The Standard Model

This is a great explanation of the basic building blocks of reality. For more information, you can read Don Lincoln's excellent book " Quantum Frontier".

Summer Reading

Newgrange - megalithic marvel or modern monstrosity?

I love the film Standing with Stones and this is a great small clip of Ireland's Newgrange.

Wastewater Education Annual Raffle

Wastewater Education is offering two of my prints from Manufactured River for a fund raiser. Please support their noble efforts in protecting precious water resources by bidding on some of their items. Here is the talk I gave last year, when Wastewater Education invited me to be part of a celebration of Dr. John Snow's Birthday.

Big Mysteries: Extra Dimensions

It's always a pleasure to see and/or read the erudite Don Lincoln.

Riparian Zone Process

Detail, Riparian Zone Textile #1

seed beads, embroidery, silver thread on dyed linen

For the past 6 weeks, I have been working away on the series "The Riparian Zone". I just submitted the work for a show at the Water Street Studio and was forced to think about my process. The task for me was to work my way backwards in order to tell a coherent narrative about how the work was created. 

Last year, I happened to watch an art history lecture given by UK artist David Hockney. The film was called “A Day on The Grand Canal with The Emperor ofChina”. As Hockney’s fascinating lecture unfolded, his comments illuminate life on the bustling streets and waterfronts of 17^th century China. The 7 foot scroll inspired me to create work that captured my own interest in the intersection of natural processes and the reality of more than 3 million people pushing up against this natural resource.

                       

Walking the river trails, many canoe trips and living near the Chicago canal have had an impact on my visual understanding of   our water ways. Using Hockney’s discussion of the 17^th century scroll, I was thinking about various formats. The scroll format is eminently suitable to express a river. It has echoes of maps, trails and the sense of a journey.

5" x 11"

You can see more drawings here.

Just as I was finishing up the preparatory drawings for the scroll idea, canoe season started and we put in on a beautiful spring morning. When I got back to the studio, I realized that the works on paper did not seem to adequately express the sparkle of sunlight on the water, microbial life and the movement of water. I wanted the work to capture some of the joy and excitement I feel when paddling on the river.

After creating more than 25 horizontal watercolor and ink drawings, I decided to throw out the concept of a book and switched media altogether. Perhaps textiles could capture the experience of being on the river in that sparkling, Spring light.

 I decided to use embroidery and bead work to convey a sense aristocratic valuation of our waterways. I also played around with switching the format from horizontal lay out like a map to a vertical presentation. This would subtly convey the idea of the river as a royal persona robed in expensive, beaded and embroidered cloth.  If I used expensive and time consuming processes on humbler working class fabrics as a base (canvas and denim) I could also imbue a feeling that our fresh water resources also  do  very muscular tasks. The raw materials of our industrial society are carried over the water ways as well.

A most fruitful idea sprung up as I completed the application process to this show at Water Street Gallery.  I am dusting off the idea of creating a large, ambitious scroll about the Chicago Canal. This time, I want to work on a seven foot long scroll of undyed linen. The original inspiration for this project, David Hockney’s description of the 17^th century Chinese Emperor’s trip down an ancient canal inspires me to push my boundaries again…..to work on my own piece about the Chicago Canal.  Rather than representing the end, the work in this show inspires me to continue this series and begin my largest textile piece.