Fredrickson Family Innovation Lab - Laura Splan: "Tickling the Bonds: Creative Engagement with Molecular Visualization Tools" - Wednesday, March 24 at 7:00 PM

THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS: INNOVATION LAB LECTURE SERIES

Presented by the Fairfield University College of Arts and Sciences Innovation Lab

Co-Directors, 

Mehmet Cansoy, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Anthropology

Jo Yarrington, Professor, Visual & Performing Arts

In this webinar, Laura Splan will lead a creative exploration of the molecular biology of SARS-CoV-2 through the molecular visualization software PyMOL. She will demonstrate how to use public databases of models and how to load and manipulate protein structures. Joined by a biologist, Splan will facilitate a conversation about the science of viruses and antibodies, using their representations in software to understand how they affect our lives. She will also present a critical and creative engagement with scientific imaging and visualization technologies and the way they mediate our relationship to the natural world. Make sure to bring along your own 3D glasses to enjoy the detailed models you will see on your screens! (https://amzn.to/33xagr3)

Laura Splan has been a visiting lecturer at Stanford University teaching interdisciplinary courses including “Embodied Interfaces”, “Data as Material” and “Art & Biology”. She has been an artist in residence at Coalesce Center for Biological Arts and BioBAT Art Space. During the pandemic, she has been collaborating remotely with biotech company Integral Molecular with support from the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation and the uCity Science Center. She is currently a Creative Science member at NEW INC, the New Museum’s cultural incubator. Her work has been commissioned by The Centers for Disease Control Foundation and has been exhibited at the Museum of Arts & Design.