Underwater science themes in Kunsthaus Wien
While traveling, I came across Anne Duk Hee Jordan’s exhibit in Vienna
I’m back from my Interrail trip. It was entirely a holiday with no work at all, but I did see some science art along the way that instantly made me think of you, Mixture readers!
One of my favourite things in Vienna is the Hundertwasser House and the nearby Kunsthaus Wien. Hundertwasser himself has some environmental themes in the museum’s permanent collection, but there was much more science art on the top floors of the building, in a temporary exhibit by Anne Duk Hee Jordan.
Her installation “The End Is Where We Start From” takes visitors past air plants, microbes and robotic octopuses through an entire underwater soundscape.
There is also a little seating area with science books and I was maybe a little bit too loud when I enthusiastically picked up the Lynn Margulis’ book and started talking about the origins of mitochondria, because two other people came over to look at the books. (Shameless plug for my Biology: 100 Ideas in 100 Words, where you can also learn about Margulis’ discoveries.)
“The End Is Where We Start From” is still on until end of January at Kunsthaus Wien in Vienna.
From the museum website:
“Anne Duk Hee Jordan intentionally interleaves scientific knowledge with poetic imagination, links organic nature with Romantic visions of technology, merges the human with the nonhuman, and in this way creates an artistic universe imbued with a profound sensibility for ecological and social issues. In multimedia works set under and above water, nature is never just a “feel-good landscape” but a dynamic ecosystem shaped and pervaded by transiency, recovery, and new beginnings.”
💡Interesting Links
Art and science set sail in Schmidt Ocean Institute’s artist-at-sea programme. By Kate Mothes for Colossal.
Scientists discover real-world physics ‘hidden’ in Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. By Vishwam Sankaran for The Independent.
The Soundtrack of science. Laura Tran interviews Barbara Di Ventura for The Scientist.
Celebrating science that’s off the beaten track. Ari Daniel covers the IgNobels for NPR
How do other animals see the world? By Avery Hurt for Discover
Where is Eva?
It’s conference season, and I’ll be at two conferences in October, wearing different hats and in different physical representations (virtual and in-person).
Oct 5-9 Neuroscience 2024 - I’m virtually attending the SfN meeting as press, so you won’t see me, but I’ll be listening in on some of the talks, gathering inspiration for future articles.
Oct 15 UK Conference of Science Journalists - I’ll be present in person here. I’m a speaker on the books panel to talk about self-publishing and educational/informational commissioned books and I might even have some books to sign, although we’re still working out the details of that.