Beautiful Bacteria, Visual Viruses, Fascinating Fungi!

Microbiology and Art
MadLab
Saturday 22 October – 10 November
11am – 5pm
Cost & Booking: Free. No need to book. Drop in anytime.

Looking up at the celestial night sky or at Hubble telescope images of the universe around us, the connection between astronomy and beauty is unquestionable.

But other fields of science don’t have such a ready connection between their research subjects and beauty. Take, for example, microbiology. The study of bacteria, viruses, and fungi likely makes most people think, “Germs! Get them off me!” rather than “Ooh, that’s lovely…”

Joanna Verran, though, is out to change all that. For the 2011 Manchester Science Festival , Joanna has put together an exhibit of artwork inspired by and featuring microorganisms and infectious diseases.

After all, many microorganisms are beneficial to us, and gorgeous as well!

Manchester Science Festival blogger Nija Dalal got on the phone with Joanna, to discuss this exciting and intriguing exhibit that brings together science and art.

First off, can you describe what the event will be about?

The exhibit will demonstrate the links between science and art, specifically microbiology. The artworks were produced by science undergraduate students and citizen-scientists to illustrate the often unrecognized connections between art and science

And what exactly is microbiology?

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, the tiny living things like bacteria, virii, fungi. They are incredibly small, and have to be seen through a microscope.

Microbes can be very beautiful and very important… and there are more of them than anything else on the planet! And they’re not all there just to make us ill—many of them play the important role of breaking things down. If they didn’t exist, we’d be over our heads in rubbish on this planet!

Did you know there are 10 times more microbial cells in and on the human body than there are human cells?

That’s amazing! I knew there were a lot, but that’s astounding! What kind of artworks can festival goers look forward to seeing at the exhibit?

There are a lot of exciting artworks being shown. For example, one of my students recreated an X-ray image of a virus using sequins. It’s really beautiful. Another piece is an embroidered quilt about scarlet fever, and it also draws on Little Women, because a character in that book, Beth, dies of scarlet fever.

There are also some fascinating photographs. Overall, the exhibit will be a very visual, very artistic way to engage with science. Hopefully, people will find a new way to think about science and microbiology, because art can help to communicate scientific understanding in an unexpected way.

The exhibit features work by your undergraduate science students and by a group called DIYBIO… What is DIYBIO?

DIYBIO is a Wellcome Trust Funded group, run by MadLab (Manchester Digital Laboratory) and Manchester Metropolitan University. The group exists to encourage citizen-run science. DIYBIO held a competition among their members for artworks that related to microbiology. The winning submissions are in the exhibit.

They’ve developed an interactive microbe map of Manchester, which can show visitors where different microbes were found around the city, mostly probably from people’s hands.

So could it be that people who come to see the exhibit may have unwittingly contributed to it?

Absolutely. You may be seeing your own microbes on that map!

Why did you choose to use academic and amateur work?

Science students tend to get pigeonholed into just doing science work, and this lets them use other talents, brings in different talents and provides a different way of communicating science. For the person looking at the work, it could be a less threatening way of looking at science.

What do you think art offers microbiology? Can art sometimes show things in a clearer way or a more dynamic way?

I think the artworks make people look at science differently, think about the message differently. That can be very interesting.

Do you think art can help people get interested in microbiology?

Yes! Microbiology is a really interesting subject and this gets people to look at it in a way that’s more accessible and helps you to make links you wouldn’t otherwise. You’d never think of the similarity between something like an xray of a virus and a cultural product like sequins, but once you’ve seen the artwork, you can see how beautiful and sparkly the original xray image looks.

I really hope this exhibit inspires people to do and think about science and art as interconnected.

The Manchester Science Festival 2011 presents Microbiology and Art
MadLab, 

36-40 Edge St, Manchester, Greater Manchester M4 1, UK

Saturday 22 October – 10 November
11am – 5pm
Cost & Booking: Free. No need to book. Drop in anytime.

Manchester Science Festival 2010 - reflections and thank you

Manchester is an amazing place for a science festival. There’s so much rich industrial heritage and iconic scientists to draw inspiration from and so much innovation and exciting research happening in the city, it provides a unique backdrop. The fourth Manchester Science Festival has just taken place and since it began in 2007, so many people have got behind the Festival, sharing their ideas, creativity and passion for science. It’s a real thrill to be putting science at the heart of the cultural calendar in Manchester.

A huge thank you goes out to all the funders, partners, organisers, speakers, researchers, community groups and volunteers who made this year’s Festival happen. The Festival is a huge partnership effort and we’re proud to work with so many (over 75!) different partner organisations. This year’s Festival was particularly exciting and so many great projects came together to create an inspiring and innovative programme. In fact there was such an action packed programme of event, it’s hard to pick a particular highlight to shout about. However, there are a few projects we’re particularly chuffed about and thought they were worth a mention.

This year we embarked on an ambitious community programme. As well as science busking, we delivered kitchen science workshops through each of the ten Greater Manchester boroughs. We put young people at the heart of the Festival, inviting them to get involved in the development and delivery of key projects. 18 year olds with no previous interest in science got together to work with scientists, ethicists and artists to explore the topic of human enhancement and develop creative performances for the public. We also added a twist to the Dragon’s Den. As part of the Manchester Beacon Science Festival Community Awards scientists pitched their creative event ideas to a panel of ruthless dragons (teenagers), who chose which project to fund and work with to shape and deliver an event. The winning idea, the bacteria party saw students sharing their work, getting hands-on, eating bacteria shaped cake and playing games with the local community. It was such a fantastic event and exactly the kind of programming we want to encourage as part of the Festival.

We really provided some unique experiences for people this year with projects like Super K Sonic Booooum, an immersive experience where you could experience what it’s like to be in neutrino observatory. Unsuspecting members of the public donned their wellies and lab coat and jumped aboard a boat to see what it’s like to be a particle physicist in Japan. The installation explored some really serious and exciting science, as well as being fun and giving you the chance to experience an environment you would never dream of seeing.

We welcomed over 80 volunteers who assisted at events and went to venues throughout Greater Manchester, entertaining the masses with science busking – fun, hands-on science demonstrations that capture the imagination as you’re on the commute or out shopping. They were passionate, enthusiastic and committed. A huge thank you goes to our volunteers who are helping to inspire our future scientists!

This diverse and innovative programme could only be put together by the people in Manchester for the people of Manchester. Manchester is a truly original science city and I hope you enjoyed this exciting, passionate and ambitious Festival. So thank you for coming and getting involved and we'll keep you posted on the blog with plans for next year!

Natalie Ireland,
Manchester Science Festival Director

Wellcome Trust grant for human enhancement project

The Wellcome Trust has awarded a grant to Manchester Science Festival, Contact Theatre, Nowgen and The University of Manchester to produce a creative human enhancement project for the 2010 Manchester Science Festival. This project brings together a vibrant team of young people, scientists, ethicists and artists to explore human enhancement (i.e. physical, genetic and cognitive improvements). The team will explore the latest biomedical research and the young people will develop performances (such as street dancing and science busking) that will get people thinking about the ways in which they might potentially improve their brains and bodies in the future. The project will culminate with public shows and events during October's Manchester Science Festival this year.

For more information please contact Kate Dack at Nowgen (kate.dack@cmft.nhs.uk) or look at the Manchester Science Festival website in the Autumn.