W§NDER
The National Science Foundation established the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) to advance rigorous, innovative scientific research and development throughout the United States. As part of Rhode Island Summer Undergraduate Research Program, I (BFA FD + BA Geological Sc. '17), Nicolas Baird (BA Science and Society + BA Visual Arts '14), and David Kim (MFA Digital + Media '14) under the guidance of the Director of the RISD Nature Lab, Neal Overstrom, represented a unique artistic perspective in the science community--visualizing scientific information through an experiential and engaging exhibition.
Our contribution to marine research is a visual gallery to help visitors empathize with plankton (derived from "planktos" or "wanderer"), microorganisms fundamental to marine life. Through gigapixel stitching technology, interactive elements, and installations, the progression of the exhibit was to bridge the size gap, a primary barrier that causes desensitization and detachment despite the mindboggling ubiquity, diversity, and significance of phyto- and zoo- plankton.
Scientific Paper
First Room- Actual scale
process photos, panoramas of our collecting locations
Second Room- Human Scale
large posters of stitched zooplankton, podium exhibiting four ipads (zoomable white field + dark field quilts of phyto- and zoo-plankton, white field video, and dark field video), containers filled with plankton as gifts for visitors
Third Room- Immersive Scale
projectors projecting video of ctenophores onto sheer tulle, audio made by Nicolas Baird