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Scientia Year
 

One Book.

Every month.

For a year.

To Stimulate an Informative Encounter.

 

 

 

'Scientia' is a self-directed project with the intent of improving my knowledge and utilizing my practice as a conduit between art and science. 'Scientia' is a year-long project in which I've learned (and continue to learn) about concepts and ideas through a book and then attempt to translate those into an artwork for the audience to experience as an 'informative Encounter'.

- Lewis Andrews

 

 

‘Scientia’ was undertaken as an extension to the current investigations into the theory of an ‘Informative Encounter’ originating from experimentation during Lewis’s masters degree. Describing his process as a conduit between art and science, ‘Scientia’ takes this approach and puts the theory to the test for a whole year with the incorporation of scientific information provided by a carefully selected list of books. During his masters degree, Lewis discovered his work would have one or more of the following traits:

 

- New Knowledge

- New Viewpoints / Impossible Viewpoints

- Comprehension

- Visualising Data

- Collapsing Distances

- Answering Questions

- Open Up Conversations

- Condensing Information

- A Catalyst for information

- Understanding or attempting to Understand

 

Identifying these traits through his entire catalogue of artworks, Lewis’s theories of the ‘Informative Encounter’ continued to evolve and develop. Lewis’s artworks seem to interact and behave in a means that conforms to a theory of translating scientific information into something visual in an attempt to convey information to its viewer. If we were to think then of the audience in one room and a wealth of scientific information in another room, does that make the artworks and Lewis’s practice (as well as any other artist working with this technique) a doorway? Possibly metaphorically.

 

It’s important to note here that this is not the only possible doorway into this room of scientific information. A simple internet search could be another metaphorical doorway. Either way, this is why Lewis feels his work is a conduit. Attempting to connect the two and allowing the viewer to gain a new understanding of scientific information. However, sometimes the work itself will not be able to communicate the entirety of the subject matter. Instead, it could offer snippets to the viewer, enough to open up conversations that may lead them to further research of the subject matter.

 

 

 

“My artworks seem to interact and behave in a means that conforms to the theory of translating scientific information into something visual in an attempt to convey information to its viewer. If we were to think then of the audience in one room and a wealth of scientific information in another room, does that make me and my practice (as well as any other artist working with this technique) a doorway? Possibly metaphorically. It’s important to note here that we are not the only possible doorways into this room of scientific information. A simple internet search could be another metaphorical doorway. Either way, this is why I feel my work is a conduit. Attempting to connect the two and allowing the viewer to gain a new understanding of scientific information. However, sometimes the work itself will not be able to communicate the entirety of the subject matter. Instead, it could offer snippets to the viewer, enough to open up conversations that may lead them to further research of the subject matter.”

 

- Sample from Lewis’s thesis “Attempting to Image the Impossible”. 2021.

 

‘Scientia’ resulted from Lewis’s ongoing research into the ‘Informative Encounter’. Each month of the year, a book is selected with (if possible) a different subject matter within the realm of science than the prior book. Lewis’s practice would then attempt to translate information, theories, stories and data from the activity of reading these books into artwork. Each artwork should in turn have at its heart one of the ten traits previously identified in an attempt to stimulate an ‘Informative Encounter’.

Aug 2022
Dark Matter - Brian Clegg.jpg
August 2022.

Dark Matter & Dark Energy:
The Hidden 95% of Our Universe

Brian Clegg
Atoms

Atoms

297mm x 420mm.

Text. 2022.

Halo I - V

420mm x 594mm.

Digitally Enhanced Drawing. 2022.

The 'Halo' series of digitally enhanced drawings touch upon the theorized properties of dark matter and its ability to hold galaxy clusters within a series of threads, filaments, and halo-like shapes. Zooming out, if you could visualize this architecture of our universe, it would appear to almost be a vast cosmic web.

Redshift I - VIII

210mm x 297mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

The 'Redshift' drawings visualize the very distant galaxies of the universe. The further photons of light travel across the cosmos, the more redshifted the light becomes on the spectrum. With Dark energy accelerating the expansion of the universe, there will come a time in the far future long after humanity that all galaxies apart from our own may become redshifted. 

Sep 2022
h20.jpeg
September 2022.

H20:
A Biography of Water.

Philip Ball

Biography of Water

Click to view full gallery

 

420mm x 594mm. Photographs. 2022

Frozen Moon

420mm x 594mm.

Digital Artwork. 2022.

'Frozen Moon' highlights and reaffirms that water is not just present on our planet within our solar system or the cosmos. With frozen icy moons orbiting our gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, 'Frozen moon' attempts to visualize fictional icy moons of distant planets just waiting to be discovered.

The Water in Your Body is Temporary

The Water in Your Body is Temporary

210mm x 290mm.

Indian Ink, Ink and Pencil on Watercolour Paper. 2022. x4

'The Water in Your Body is Temporary', as the name suggests, highlights the often overlooked fact that the water within your body is only temporarily within you before making another journey of its own. either still as a water molecule, part of another molecule, or separated into hydrogen and oxygen (which in turn get used in countless ways by the body). However, this piece reflects the journeys those molecules of water have already made before entering your body as well as the journeys they will make when they leave. 

Oct 2022
Oxygen.jpeg
October 2022.

Oxygen:
The Molecule that made the World.

Nick Lane
Cyano

Cyano

210mm x 290mm.

Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

Ancient Merge

210mm x 290mm.

Indian Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022. x3

'Ancient Merge' attempts to visualize a moment billions of years ago when two early cells merged to become one. The early seas were a no man's land of endless conflicts between cells devouring each other for their resources. One day, however, a cell 'ate' another and did not kill it. This early merge between cells would eventually lead to the first Eukaryote cells. That cell that was absorbed by the other was the early descendant of the mitochondria in our cells today.

The Fall of Snowball Earth

210mm x 290mm.

Indian Ink and Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022. x4

'The Fall of Snowball Earth', as the name suggests, attempts to take the audience back to the end of a period within earth's history when temperatures plummeted and the world became a giant ball of snow and ice. A runaway Ice-albedo feedback is theorized to have plummeted temperatures on earth turning our pale blue dot into a frozen marble. The end of this long period of cold came at the hands of powerful volcanic eruptions releasing greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. In turn, raising the temperature and bringing an end to Snowball Earth. It's also theorized that snowball earth has occurred a few times in our planet's history.

The Key to All Oxygen Breathing Life

420mm x 594mm.

Giclee Print on Paper. 2022.

One of the single most important parts of Photosynthesis on planets is the release of Oxygen. You and I, as well as billions of other people and trillions of other organisms, breathe in Oxygen in some form of respiration. This is achieved by one part of the plant known as the 'Oxygen - Evolving Complex'. This piece highlights the process of photons being used to split water resulting in the release of Oxygen as a waste product. Just think about that for a second. One of the reasons you're able to breathe now is that plants have released Oxygen as a waste product.

LUCA

The Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)

210mm x 290mm.

Indian Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

6CO2 + 6H2O = C6H12O6 + 6O2

6CO2 + 6H2O = C6H12O6 + 6O2

210mm x 290 (x18) & 290 x 420mm.

Indian Ink on Watercolour Paper & Giclee Print on Paper. 2022.

The Individual Artworks & Stages

Click Here

Born out of the same storytelling approach as sister artwork 'ATP', '6CO2 + 6H20 = C6H1206 + 602' visualizes a brief overview of oxygenic photosynthesis within plant cells. As we know, it's because of this process that we have a bountiful supply of Oxygen in the air for us to breathe; as well as the separate oxygenic photosynthesis that occurs in Cyanobacteria.

Consisting of 19 individual pieces to form the artwork, we begin with the two products of light & water before progressing into the plant cell. Within those is the Thylakoid where light-dependent reactions occur to split water releasing Oxygen and creating the molecules NADPH & ATP. CO2 is added within the Calvin Cycle and the product of this process will eventually go on within the plant to produce sugar.

Nov 2022
The Deep.jpg
November 2022.

The Deep

Alex Rogers
That's not a Jellyfish

That's not a Jellyfish.

210mm x 290mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

In 2018, scientists found a plastic bag at 10898m below the surface in the Mariana Trench. It seems even the remotest places on Earth are not safe from our destruction.

The Deep

The Deep.

660mm x 900mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper x9. 2022.

"We were exploring an environment that would be instantly fatal to Human Life were it not for the technology of the plastic bubble and gadgetry we were surrounded by. We were, indeed, engaged in a heroic endeavor, to explore the ocean, to boldly go where no human had been before." - Alex Rogers. The Deep. Prologue, p8.

Lost City I

Lost City I.

290mm x 420mm.

Indian Ink & Charcoal on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

Lost City II

Lost City II.

290mm x 420mm.

Indian Ink & Charcoal on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

Lost City III

Lost City III.

290mm x 420mm.

Indian Ink & Charcoal on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

The 'Lost City' drawings attempt to visualize the remote ocean communities that thrive around hydrothermal vents in the deep sea. The drawings take their name after The Lost City Hydrothermal Field on the Atlantis Massif between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Atlantis Transform Fault. Here, around 30 active and inactive vents tower above the ocean floor. One of these, named Poseidon, Towers 60 meters from its base and 100 meters wide. Producing simple molecules such as methane and hydrogen (both of which are fundamental in microbial life), the site has generated great interest from scientists in regard to the origin of life on Earth. With vast amounts of the ocean still unexplored, it must be interesting to know how many more

'lost Cities' are hidden beneath the waves.

Dec 2022
Immune.jpg
December 2022.

Immune

Philipp Dettmer
Thymus.jpg

Thymus

297mm x 210mm x4

Indian Ink & on Watercolour Paper & Giclee Prints on Paper. 2022.

Referred to as the ‘Murder University’ by Philipp Dettmer in his book ‘Immune’, the Thymus is where your immune cells are ‘trained’ to learn self from others through the use of proteins. If a young immune cell recognizes a body cell protein and wants to attack, it is terminated immediately. If cells like this escape, this will lead to an autoimmune disease. Your immune system has to constantly be kept in check since it can just as easily kill you as defend you. Through the thymus, your immune cells are ‘trained’ to recognize self from other. 98% of new immune cells entering the thymus fail this test.

Guard - Macrophage

Guard - Macrophage

297mm x 210mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

Intelligence - Dendritic Cell

Intelligence - Dendritic Cell

297mm x 210mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

Parasite Assassins - Eosinophil

Parasite Assassins - Eosinophil

297mm x 210mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.

Warrior - Neutrofil

Warrior - Neutrofil

297mm x 210mm.

Indian Ink & Ink on Watercolour Paper. 2022.