Do Now Blog: Potential Topics

Do Now is a blog run by KQED, a media organization of the Northern California region focused on television, radio, digital media, education, and community. The Do Now blog poses current issues weekly in a format conducive to audiences commenting and sharing opinions via social media outlets.

KQED logo from here

 Below are a few topics that I may develop into a Do Now blog post:

Meeting Bob Tope

On the first Cornerstones science and art day, I was able to meet with scientific illustrator and photographer Bob Tope. Though I have tried to meet with other scientific illustrators, it's never worked out! Bob was such an inspiration to talk to; he gave me a run-down of his career and some sound advice on how to be successful in the field.

Science + Art Day

On April 6th I joined a group of artists at ES who were setting up demonstrations for freshmen in the Cornerstones program. The students are currently enrolled in their final seminar centered around the intersection of science and art, a favorite topic of mine which I learned about in their shoes three years ago! I talked to students about my own project, the process of natural dyeing, and weaving.

Visions of Nature table set up for weaving and dyeing

Ecoart and Science Lecture: Reading the River, Basia Irland

Last Thursday I finally attended one of the Eco Science + Art Lectures, "Reading the River." Basia Irland is a University of New Mexico professor, artist, poet, sculptor, author, and activist working on water quality projects around the world.

A number of her projects stood out to me, one of them being the "Desert Fountain" project in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Made of copper replicas of her own hands, this fountain captures water within a rainwater collection unit and returns it to the water table. I like that she took into consideration the area's susceptibility to drought and chose not to waste water by pulling from the nearby depleted water sources. This piece reminds me of the "Urban Rain" installation in San Jose, CA by eco artist Jackie Brookner in which rain water is directed onto a stainless steel "Thumbprint filter" sculpture. Both pieces use the human hand as the receiving end of the water before it returns to the earth. This is an interesting concept because it seems that water is almost always affected by human touch, whether through runoff, point source pollution, acid rain, etc.

Irland's "Desert Fountain"