The inspiring ‘Invisible Light’ Exhibition and its online public engagement initiative ‘Ray Days’ has come to an end. However, as we all know, an ending is often followed by a new beginning. In this case, new perspectives and partnerships came to fruition. The knowledge and special insights exchanged between artist and scientist will live on and take shape and influence in different ways far into the future. In this story, we share a flavour of those experiences contributed by those involved.
Crawford Art Gallery
Dyane Hanrahan, Anne Boddaert & Michael Waldron
“Despite the obstacles and challenges of this year, Invisible Light broke through the walls of the gallery and into people's homes, classrooms, and workplaces. Virtual visitors from across Ireland, France, Germany, and beyond engaged in a fascinating project that truly explored the points at which Art and Science meet, overlap, and inform each other. It has been a pleasure to see these important links emerge and to have the origins of our institution reignited!
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Anne and Denis from The School of Looking for their commitment and curiosity; Daniela, Michael, and the teams at Tyndall National Institute and IPIC for their expertise and input; Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) for their generous support through Discover Programme funding; and all who tuned in and reached out filled with interest and questions. We look forward to seeing how Invisible Light develops over the coming years as the exhibition begins its travels.”
The School of Looking
Anne Cleary & Denis Connolly
“It was such an incredible opportunity to work with curators from Crawford Art Gallery and researchers at Tyndall National Institute to create this exhibition that is a true synergy between art and science. These forms of invisible light tell us so much about the universe in which we live, but also about our own culture. Scientists and art conservationists use invisible light to investigate works of art, analysing the chemical properties of pigments and varnishes, and so can restore them and conserve them for future generations. There was a certain poetry about making the Invisible Light exhibition for Crawford, which started its life as a school of Art and Science, and that it was only seen virtually because of the pandemic restrictions, so it was given life by the "invisible light" technologies that scientists at Tyndall and IPIC use to underpin our modern communications systems.”
Tyndall National Institute
Dr Michael Nolan
Ray Days Talk: Gamma Rays
“I was engaged with The School of Looking and Crawford Gallery from early on in the development of this wonderful exhibition and the concept of bringing science and art together to illuminate the wonder of the Universe around us was really exciting. Bringing to life the broad spread of those parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans cannot see, but are so important to us, the Invisible Light of the Gamma Rays exhibition, was a challenge. The exhibits that were prepared for the program were amazing and captured the core ideas of each region of the spectrum, bringing them to life. I found that the artistic take on Light complemented the scientific understanding and gave another approach to understand and explain Invisible Light and its importance to us. While we approach the world from seemingly different viewpoints, at heart we are all trying to make sense of the world around us and show its wonder.”
Ray Days Talk: Microwaves
“Working with Anne and Dennis and the Crawford Team was inspiring to me and the opportunity to weave in the scientific and technical background to an engaged audience was a special experience and I thoroughly enjoyed my participation in the exhibition. I think this program showed the public the importance of fundamental scientific investigation in uncovering new phenomena that later find practical use and at the same time the importance of art in making the world a richer place. It also demonstrated how one needs to have art and science working together to grow our understanding of the Universe.”
Tyndall National Institute
Dr Daniela Iacopino
Ray Days Talk: Ultraviolet
“It has been a great pleasure to work on the Invisible Light project both with artists Anne and Denis and the Crawford gallery team. Anne and Denis have a great gift, in that they understand the scientific principles behind many intriguing natural phenomena and are able to communicate such principles to children and the general public using artistic creations. In their creations, the piece of art becomes a tool through which complex scientific concepts can be explained and easily captured by the audience. I found their approach fascinating, because we as scientists increasingly need to explain our research to the public and we often struggle to make our research accessible and to spark the interest of children, students and the general public for what we do.”
Ray Days Talk: Visible Light and the Animal Colour Debate
“I found the use of art also very powerful in that an image or a drawing can speak more than a thousand words and are a very effective communication tool. For example, the “Made to fade” drawing was made by Anne and Denis to explain the discoloration of drawing markers exposed to the sun (UV light). The use of that simple drawing enabled them to explain concepts such as the UV-induced molecular degradation of plastics and pens seen in many contemporary drawings and watercolors and the balance that museums need to have in place between storage and exposure of art works. It was a very effective way to bring together the work of artists, conservators, museum curators and scientist, together, collaboratively, making it accessible to everyone."
Tyndall National Institute
Dr Veronica Biolcati
Ray Days Talk: X-Rays
“I think scientists and artists are very similar in their thought proccesses .There is a mutual understanding that it is essentially the trials and failures that fundamentally make the game exciting. I also believe that we research the same thing. We are inspired to represent the nature that surrounds us- with a slight perfectionist perspective – using different concepts: aesthetic and measurement, concepts which very often cross over.”
Tyndall National Institute/IPIC
Dr Brian Corbett
Ray Days Talk: Infrared
“Anne and Denis produced a wonderful set of works for their exhibition. Their approach to the electromagnetic spectrum was actually very scientific as they used data from the space agency for the microwave spectrum for the use of scientific instruments (for example, thermal camera, Geiger counter) for other parts of the spectrum. They made many observations as a result and sought explanations just as a scientist would do. Anne and Denis have a great rapport and that made it easy to engage. The audience was equally inquisitive with lots of good questions heading off in many directions.”
IPIC
Dr Caitriona Tyndall
“The challenges the Invisible Light exhibition faced have highlighted how collaboration between science and art can create something really special. The exhibition managed to bridge the virtual gap between the artists at the Crawford Gallery and people in their homes, schools and more. We are very proud to have been a part in this incredible achievement. Congratulations to Anne, Denis and the Crawford Gallery team.”
Tyndall National Institute
Alida Zauers
“As Public Engagement and Outreach officer for Tyndall, it’s incredibly important to me to find new ways to communicate STEM research to the public. The intersection of art and science has been a wonderful way in achieving this. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Anne and Denis, the Crawford and our own researchers in Tyndall and IPIC the last 18 months on this inspiring project.
Invisible Light highlighted the importance of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) in society by familiarising audiences with the myriad applications of the electromagnetic spectrum in art, medicine and industry. It created opportunities for cross disciplinary conversations between researchers, artists, curators and the public, fostering creativity and encouraging new styles of thinking and learning. Art and science share a common motivation and goal to understand and describe the world around us and so I am always excited to support projects that combine these two fields.
Despite the setbacks of COVID-19 the team found novel and engaging ways to reach out to audiences and ended up producing a spectacular show that was still accessible to people from the comfort of their own homes. I very much look forward to seeing how the exhibition develops over the coming years and wish Anne and Denis every success in their future endeavours.”
Funded under Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Discover Programme.