Seed Media Group: Blog

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 • Noted • by Eva Wisten • #

A (faded) Postcard from Antarctica

Judit Hersko, an associate professor at California State University San Marcos, went to McMurdo Station in Antarctica on a grant from NSF’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. She just sent us a little greeting.

“Five years ago I initiated the “art and science” project at California State University San Marcos by inviting scientist colleagues to work with me on visualizing science through art. The impetus for this venture arose from my interest in the transformation of matter and my desire to place my artistic process more directly in the service of science and education. My vision was to create an interdisciplinary project that extends in several directions including exhibitions and the development of creative teaching tools for science.

The purpose is to visualize biological, chemical, and physical principles through artistic processes and make them accessible to students of all ages as well as to the general public. My UV project “Pages from the Book of the Unknown Explorer” is part of this venture. It visualizes the “action” of UV rays in Antarctica by using them to fade images onto surfaces sensitive to UV radiation. The dyes applied to the papers (such as PH dyes as well as DNA, RNA and protein indicators) are metaphorically linked to the biological processes I investigate in my current work such as the effects of ocean acidification. This projects layers Antarctic science, the history of polar exploration, and personal experience into one narrative.

The images on the papers treated with Bromocresol green 1, Bromocresol green 2 and Bromocresol green plus turmeric 2 are portraits of the “unknown explorer” Anna Schwartz based on a photograph of my mother from the 1930s.”

See more of Judit’s work here.