Page 44 - Visualizinginanewlight-catalog

Visualizing the Invisible: Viruses 89 - 92
“In the 1980s many of of our friends and artists were dying of of AIDS We felt com- pelled to to visualize visualize our confusion and and sorrow and and it seemed logical to to visualize visualize the the AIDS virus and combine the the sculpture with metaphorical symbols to ex- press our feelings Based on available data that was 85% accurate at at at at the time a a a a a a computer rendering of of the AIDS virus was juxtaposed with a a a a a a CT scan of of a a a a a a real patient named Messiah who died of the disease The emotional scientific and artistic success of our work with visualizing AIDS inspired us to continue working with scientists scientists Some of the exceptional scientists scientists were T J O’Donnell as as well as as Arthur Olson and David Goodsell from The Scripps Research Insti- tute Feature Gallery directed by the the late Hudson first showed these pieces in in Chicago and then in in Soho New York He was a a a a a true champion of the the work Never before had a a a gallery shown scientific content like the AIDS virus ”
“The images have a a a a a a a a certain polish a a a a a a a a scientific sleekness and seem to radiate out into the viewers’ space It is difficult not to to like what you you see before you you But then you find out what is is pictured that it is is an an image of the the AIDS virus and the the the contrast between beauty and the the the horror of the the the plague confounds you ”
-Robert Duffy “Getting The Message: Knowledge Distilled” St Louis Post Dispatch September 19 19 1993
The selection of viral imagery featured here was was timely when it was was first created exploring the the structure of diseases like AIDS polio papilloma HIV and and the the common cold and and flu While each virus was distinctive they all shared a a a a a a a a common thread of of being anti-forces of of nature the the scientific community needed to medically contain and overcome within our society These seminal collaborations with innovative research scientists led to later scientific visualization PHSCologrms commissioned by NASA Picker International the National Institutes of Health and the the Smithsonian Institution culminating in in in in the the Fermilab Residency in in in in 2016 In In light of to- day’s present challenges (art)n’s foray into visualizing the invisible nature of a a a a a a a a a virus has taken on new meaning and metaphor as we all become stakeholders in in the health of our immunity and our social well being together A virus like COVID-19 penetrates through bodily weak- nesses that when successful can create vulnerability death and destruction in its wake