Spring 2009 Art Installations
A Day of Science and Art
On Thursday, April 2, 2009, the Center for Natural Sciences was transformed into a center for art, as visiting artist and 2009 C.P. Snow Speaker, Spencer Finch, set up four different installations that brought principles of science and art together. Artwork created by Ithaca College students (see the Photo Gallery for images of students at work) on the themes of micro/macro and light and the color wheel were also on display, as were scientific images provided by Ithaca College faculty.
10am – 6pm: Installations on display for public viewing and visitor participation in the Center for Natural Sciences
4pm: Reception introducing Spencer Finch to the community
7pm: CP Snow Lecture: “Beauty and the Scientific Method”
Center for Natural Sciences
→ Glacier by Spencer Finch (2nd floor atrium/hallway)
- This installation was a modification of Sky (Over Franz Joseph Glacier, April 8, 2008, 10:40am); it recreated the observed color of the sky from the reflection of the water at the basin of the glacier.
- Watercolors by Spencer Finch
→ Big and Small (2nd floor hallway and Room 212)
- Watercolors by Spencer Finch
- Digital astronomical images provided by Ithaca College faculty
- Lithographs by students of Susan Weisend (art department faculty member), based on observations of plant cell slides (micro) and plants in the Greenhouse at IC (macro)
- Plaster cast relief sculptures by students of Bill Hastings and Carla Stetson (art department faculty) based on observations of plant cell slides (micro) and plants in the Greenhouse at IC (macro)
- Hands-on: Visitors had the opportunity to look at plant cells through the microscopes and try their hand at drawing what they saw.
→ Bee Purple by Spencer Finch (3rd floor, Room 368)
- This installation recreated the luring color purple that bees see but cannot be seen by humans.
→ Newtonian Light and the Color Wheel (3rd floor, Room 302)
- Newton’s light and prism experiment, set up by members of the IC Physics department.
- Color block paintings by students of Jeremy Long (art department faculty member), based on juxtaposing color relationships
- Hands-on: Visitors had the opportunity to mix colors to see the difference between subtractive and additive principles of light and color.
