“Baroque Bodies (Configurations)” explores computational representations of the biological world through biophysical equation-driven animations and sound. The animations are created with computationally driven movement from theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson's simulations of chromatin configurations. Biophysical calculations generate the movement of spheres representing nucleosomes. The colorful metallic surfaces of the spheres were created with AI image generators using text prompts from scientific research on epigenetics. The accompanying 20-channel soundscape was created through sonification of Lamson's chromatin simulations. The composition was composed by converting the resulting sound files into midi tracks. A different midi instrument was assigned to each of the tracks creating an ethereal spatial soundscape of contact among molecular bodies that are situated in a liminal space that is at once biological and technological.
The work evokes notions of residues in both the abstract (metaphorical, poetic, ethereal) and the physical (literal, material, biological). The conceptual underpinnings of the project are drawn from epigenetic research on environmental influences on gene expression.
“Baroque Bodies (Configurations)” is part of an experimental research collaboration between interdisciplinary artist Laura Splan and theoretical biophysicist Adam Lamson. The project explores entanglements of computational and biological worlds through research, artworks, exhibitions, and public engagement. Process and production for the project are informed by Lamson’s biological simulations and Splan’s studio practice interrogating scientific imaging techniques.
Lamson’s simulated chromatin structures serve as both material and as a conceptual framework for artworks that attempt to communicate complex biology by connecting virtual representations of the biological world with sensory encounters and tactile experiences. The collaboration explores the potential for deeper understanding of complex science by rematerializing representations of molecular phenomena. The creative underpinnings of their collaboration know as "Sticky Settings" are informed by Splan and Lamson’s shared fascination with the layers of translation involved in digital representations of molecular biology. In software interfaces, “sticky settings” is a phrase used to describe “remembered” user settings. “Sticky” is also a term Lamson uses to describe certain molecular interactions in his computer-generated models. In biology, evidence has emerged for gene bookmarking suggesting mechanisms of epigenetic memory or “stickiness” in DNA.
This work was made possible by the Simons Foundation. Created in collaboration with Adam Lamson, Science Collaborator and theoretical biophysicist at Flatiron Institute, a division of the Simons Foundation.
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