Science and Art
Every day, there is a new vision of the world that is being created by scientists and the science community. We are iGEM Hamburg and we want to give the possibility for everyone to be part of this future we are building. Therefore, we need to be able to share our passion for science, in a language that everybody understands.
A new way of doing Science Communication is based on non-conventional communication. It aims to transform complex scientific information into abstract expression forms, without losing the essence of our research.
Have you ever thought of combining Art and Science?
The idea was to incorporate exciting ways to impress our audience, to spread our message. We can use colors, feelings, impressions, art, and audio-visual content, among other examples. This is the opening gate to a new communication world, where almost everything is possible.
In that way, we can combine abstract methods and erase the limits between the scientific and non-scientific community.
DUNAZ
Felipe Lobos is known in Chile with the pseudonym of Dunaz. He is a Chilean artist who dedicated his life to the understanding of art from different perspectives, taking inspiration from street art, life, and sensory perceptions of reality. Through the help of the international members of our iGEM team, we got in touch with Dunaz and told him about our project. Due to his approach to art, the theme of merging science and biology captured his attention.
Therefore, we formed a taskforce to find ways to tell our story through organic art. To achieve our goal, we had to apply scientific communication and create a field of work where we could communicate without problems. Hence, we had several sessions in which we discussed basic concepts of biology. We also talked about what challenges we could be facing during this project and how to solve them.
When we reached a general understanding and a comfortable working atmosphere, we proceeded to delve into our project and explain synthetic biology and fundamental concepts such as the essential organisms, the labolatory methods, the enzymes and the genetic transformation. With all the knowledge acquired, we began to define the theme of the paintings; we started to search for the fundamental pillars needed for understanding our work in the laboratory. We looked for the necessary inspiration and discussed the best way to present these pillars abstractly. We were able to sketch the design of the paintings. After this, Felipe Lobos had his creative process, where our team provided the necessary help and materials. We finally had five pieces of art for our virtual gallery.
Please take a look and enjoy it!
Cyanobacteria
Escherichia Coli
Gel Electophoresis
Plasmid
Enzyme, Cytochrome P450 Reductase
Let’s take a deeper look into Dunaz and his approach to art and listen to his own words to how he experienced his creative process.
I'm Felipe. My street name is Dunaz. My work is divided into two scenarios: the street and my painting workshop. My work is in constant transformation. I am a metamorphosis just like my paintings.
My approach to art happens when I open my eyes, and I realize that I am breathing, that I am alive. My perception begins to create. My artistic background is my life, my nature, my childhood, my puberty and my present. It is illustration, art schools and street art.
Away from technical concepts but rooted into creation, into transformation, into pictorial crafting - for me that is science. This project with iGEM came at the right time. I had the opportunity to combine science with substance and color.
Painting is and will always be a universal language and I, as a painter, will always be creating.