Seeing science

Art, science converge in Gallery of Design display

Zoology staff member Jim Jaeger (left) and botany artist Kandis Elliot take turns viewing science images on a 3-D slide viewer at the 'Seeing Science' exhibit, which opened Oct. 3 at the Gallery of Design.

The confluence of art and science might well take place in Joan Kozel’s illustration of a pancreas transplant.

Illustrations by Kozel and other professional scientific illustrators will be on display in “Seeing Science,” a new exhibition in the School of Human Ecology’s Gallery of Design.

According to exhibition curator Betsy Tuttle, assistant director of the gallery, the exhibition is intended as a catalyst for discussion about the role of visual communication in the sciences … and of technology in the visual arts.

“In the early 20th century the fields of art and design were seen as polar opposites to the sciences. With the recent rise of computer technology as a standard tool for artists, this view is changing rapidly,” she says. “The transmission of complex ideas and phenomenon by artists is becoming more important to scientists.”

One of them is John Markley, UW–Madison professor of biochemistry.

“In the 1980s, computer graphics took over as a medium for scientific illustration, but required expensive equipment available only at a few national facilities,” Markley says. “The radical change that has taken place recently is that the full power of this technology has become available at low cost. It soon will become a fixture on the desktop of every student and investigator. This technology will drive an increased emphasis on visual literacy and design.”

Adds gallery director Diane Sheehan, professor of environment, textiles and design, “The initial high-end computer graphics were driven Hollywood and big science projects. Now the advances are being driven increasingly by desktop publishing and the Internet. The show at the Gallery of Design illustrates how completely the field of scientific illustration has become dominated by computer technology.

“Interestingly, more and artists are making use of this technology as their medium of expression,” she says.

“Seeing Science” will run through Oct. 31. The Gallery of Design, 1300 Linden Drive, is open Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m., and Sundays, 1-4 p.m. For more information, call 262-8815.