TARDIS - Art and Science

To Hear an Ocean in A Whisper
Artist: Nathalie Miebech
Scientist: Jonathan Finke

The fourth and final day of my Artist Retreat. Check out at the hotel was at noon, but the Young One wouldn't be done at the Con until 7pm. So the plan was Himself would pick me up along with my bag, and assorted bags and laptops of The Young One and one of her teammates. I thought I'd take Andy Fish's advice and visit the ICA, Institute for Contemporary Art. I had never heard of the ICA, and not sure how I feel about modern or contemporary art. Part of this retreat was to do things outside of my comfort zone (like eat at a restaurant all by my lone). The ICA was in the same area as PAX. As an added benefit, World of Wheels was at a convention center across the street from the ICA, and the Batmobile from the 1960s television series, Batman, was on display along with a couple of other Batmobiles from recent movies. I thought Himself would like to see the Batmobile and that would take the sting out of being dragged around art museums. Himself is a most excellent good sport.

At the last minute, as it turned out, The Eldest decided to tag along on the trip in to Boston. She's not much for visiting art museums and would definitely be bored by the Batmobile. What would keep two scientists happy for the day? A trip to the Museum of Science. Besides all the fun of the science museum, Himself found an exhibit called Ocean Stories: A Synergy of Art and Science. This was a collaboration between artists from Cape Cod and scientists from MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The scientists explained their work to the artists, and the artists visually interpreted the work in unusual and creative ways from large paintings, sculptures, and using light to create a painting. Art and science, hand in glove.

The last time we visited the science museum, we weren't able to see the lightning show, but we did get to see it this time around. I love this show. No matter how many times I see it, the show never gets old.

After the lightning show was over, the demonstrator turned on the singing Tesla coils. This is electrical energy used to make sound and produce music. I was hoping the musical selection was the theme from Doctor Who, but the coil was programmed to play The William Tell Overture.







If you've never heard a Tesla coil used as a musical instrument, watch this Youtube video of the group Arc Attack as they use the coil to play the theme song from Doctor Who