Event 5 (Extra Credit): Dr. Daniel Jay

As my last albeit optional event of the quarter, I decided to attend Dr. Daniel Jay’s presentation entitled “How the Brain Perceives Art and Towards an Art-Science Institute”. Dr. Jay’s presentation revolves around the link between art and neuroscience - something similar to what we covered earlier in the quarter.

Figure 1. Proof of attendance.

From the beginning of the presentation, Dr. Jay’s ideas correlate with our course. The sections of his presentation, namely “Who am I?”, “How the brain perceives art”, and “Towards an Art-Science”, are in line with our focus on two cultures, neurology + art, and a third culture respectively. In the beginning, Dr. Jay gave us a brief biography and it turns out that what he does is pretty impressive. Putting aside the 30 years of siloed artwork, he is also a research scientist and professor who has mentored several young scientists in their own careers.

My favorite part of the presentation was Dr. Jay’s work involving the elements of the periodic table. One of the things he did, for example, was produce art from iron magnetic fields. This particular project resonates with me because as a kid, I would always love seeing cool science and one of my favorites was the use of a magnet to pick out iron filings mixed with non-magnetic materials and make them move using said magnet. His project takes this a step further by creating an entire poster out of that experiment. Especially interesting was how he incorporated random items such as rust and mufflers from his walks home.

Figure 2. Daniel Jay, Iron magnetic field artwork.

He later mentions that some of his work relates to social issues including but not limited to gun violence and black lives matter. One of his pieces was “Archemy: Gunpowder” wherein he uses the carbon, sulfur and potassium nitrate (i.e. gunpowder) to portray “obscure scenes of violence” (Jay). While I’m mostly apolitical, I do agree that issues like discrimination and murder are wrong, and I think Dr. Jay makes a great venture to use art as a medium to create awareness about such issues.

Figure 3. Daniel Jay, Gunpowder artwork.

Dr. Jay is an inspiration in the way he uses art to engage people in reflection and in effect, change the world for the better. I am truly appreciative of his work and I will strive to add meaning to my own graphic artwork as well.

 Works Cited

Hollands, Courtney. “Daniel Jay Is the New Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.” Tufts Now, 28 Aug. 2017, https://now.tufts.edu/2017/08/28/daniel-jay-new-dean-graduate-school-biomedical-sciences.

Jay, Daniel. "How the Brain Perceives Art and Towards an Art-Science Institute." DESMA 9, uploaded by Art | Sci Center, 5 May. 2022, https://vimeo.com/705240177

Mierzwa, Beata E., and David S. Goodsell. “Picturing Science: Using Art and Imagination to Explore New Worlds.” The Biochemist, vol. 43, no. 5, 2021, pp. 32–38., https://doi.org/10.1042/bio_2021_156.

Rajra, Pavitra, and Linda Peterhans. “How Arts and Culture Can Serve as a Force for Social Change.” World Economic Forum, 29 Oct. 2020, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/how-arts-and-culture-can-serve-as-a-force-for-social-change/.

Shlain, Leonard. Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light. William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2007.

Trott, Carlie D., et al. “Merging the Arts and Sciences for Collaborative Sustainability Action: A Methodological Framework.” Sustainability Science, vol. 15, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1067–1085., https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00798-7.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121–125., https://doi.org/10.1162/002409401750184672.

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