“Reflecting on Frequency in Scientific and Artistic Research: Representations of Time Through Biological and Visual Lenses”

Artist: Michelle Paterok
NeuroGrad Collaborator: Sarah Kearsley

Abstract

This collaborative project has provided the opportunity to thoughtfully consider the ways artistic research can respond to scientific research. I have considered the role of artistic research not simply through its ability to illustrate scientific theories or methods, but its potential to respond poetically to scientific work. The oil painting created as a result of this project, entitled Visible Frequency, responds to concepts explored in Sarah Kearsley’s research investigating minimally invasive methods of brain stimulation. To do so, she uses the interaction of different frequency electrical fields to modulate the firing of the neurons. With Kearsley’s research at the basis, I sought to investigate the idea of manipulating frequencies and how this might be represented through a visual medium. Manipulating frequencies in neuroscience research mirrors strategies artists use in their studio research in painting: light and colour operate with frequencies that can be manipulated in order to achieve a desired effect. The idea of frequency as an indicator of time as seen in natural phenomena such as seasonal change and shifts in visible light throughout the course of a day have also been explored throughout art history. The artwork is a rumination on these themes in its representation of natural frequencies of changing seasons, rendered in colours that explore the range of hues and chroma in the visible light spectrum. Further, the form of the branches visually invokes the structure of neurons, strengthening the connection of the piece to the neuroscience it was inspired by.