CARBON
a site specific installation by Charles Lindsay is on display at The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) (Rensselaerville, NY/NYC)

At the heart of CARBON lies a camera-less photographic process that Lindsay has invented. His imaging technique fuses together mark-making with science, beginning with a unique carbon based emulsion applied to a transparent base that is electrified, frozen, and manipulated in various ways. Beginning in the analog realm, the negatives which exhibit highly dimensional forms in extreme resolution are then scanned, digitally layered, and printed up to 60 feet long or animated for video applications. Numerous generations in the fluid’s history create minute evaporation trails, rendering an archeology of time.

A photographer, musician, and installation artist who originally trained to be a geologist, Charles Lindsay is fascinated by the aesthetics of scientific imaging and the great experiment that is life on earth. His work harnesses the organic, the sensory, and the mechanized to explore our perception of the universe and the evolution of symbols. At the heart of CARBON is a hybrid camera-less process Lindsay invented. This imaging technique fuses mark making with photography, utlizing a unique carbon based emulsion that he electrifies, freezes, and manipulates in many ways. The fantastically detailed negatives are scanned at high resolution, digitally processed, and then printed or animated. A similar analog to digital transformation occurs in his sound works, beginning with field recordings he gathers in remote environments and then processes.

“My influences range from bizarre bio-forms and insect polyrhythms to fluorescent minerals and galactic super-structures. The bioluminescent comb jellyfish is a prime example. Making art is a way to explore pattern recognition and modes of perception and communication. What are the visceral and emotional responses to these stimuli? How does our mind grasp a new experience or process an unfamiliar shape that subconsciously elicits fear? I am intrigued by the idea that so much of our most trusted knowledge is based on images from beyond our normal scope of vision. With this in mind I am interested in our rapid evolutionary arc from early primates to astronauts and the increasing role devices play in ‘seeing’. How will we evolve as as a species, will biology and artificial intelligence merge and what does life on earth suggest about what intelligent life might look or sound like elsewhere in the universe? Conceptually, I become most curious when ideas reach beyond the anthropocentric to suggest worlds with vastly different evolutionary paths from our own. The implication inherent to CARBON is the existence of species of consciousness other than our own.”

Imbued with the clarity of vision possessed by explorers throughout the ages, Charles Lindsay’s CARBON project is a journey into mysterious and uncharted realms. He presents his art both as physical touchstones from psychological journeys and as catalysts to activate the viewer’s senses, offering access to hidden dimensions which fill us with wonder and a curiosity for the unknown.

Charles Lindsay spent ten years covering environmental issues as a photojournalist in Southeast Asia before moving back to the U.S. Solo exhibitions of CARBON have previously appeared at the Dennos Museum in MIchigan, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Idaho, and Visions West Gallery in Montana. Lindsay’s work was included in Lyle Rexer’s book The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography (Aperture, 2009) and in the accompanying exhibition at the Aperture Foundation in New York City. His experimental music was most recently presented at New York University’s Frederick Lowe theater as part of the Ear to the Earth Festival. Lindsay’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Art, Houston; The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the hewlett Packard Contemporary Art Collection

Lindsay’s photographs have appeared in numerous international publications including The New York Times Magazine, Blind Spot, Aperture, Men’s Journal, Sports Illustrated, CPW’s PQ, and others. He has been profiled on National Public Radio, and CNN Internationl. He has lectured at the American Museum of Natural History, Pratt Institute, and the Open Center in New York, among others. Four monographs of his work have been published to date including Mentawai Shaman: Keeper of the Rain Forest (Aperture, 1992). Recently appointed to the Executive Committee of Musicians for the Environment, a branch of the Electronic Music Foundation, Lindsay is also the recipient of a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship for Photography and is the first artist-in-residence at the renowned SETI Institute.

To learn more about his work, work visit www.charleslindsay.com

To view CPW’s press release about the exhibition CARBON, click here.

Imagine snail mail and landlines being primary forms of communication! Not too hard to imagine because that was soooo fifteen years ago you might think. But Space Junk 3D, a new Imax 3-D movie that debuted on January 13 elucidates that though these forms of communication might be soooooo fifteen years from now.

The movie highlights the Kessler Effect, also known as the Kessler Syndrome, which points to rogue trash as an antagonist that will prevent space travel and satellite communications. But Donald Kessler, who proposed the theory in 1978, wasn’t talking about baby diapers or hamburger wrappers. He was talking about space trash.

Trash is as ugly as it is omnipresent. Consistent with humanity’s tradition of befouling every place we go, we have been dumping detritus even in the heavens ever since we entered the space age. The difference between terrestrial debris and space debris is that the latter travels at a speed of five miles per second. An object of one kilo traveling at this speed causes greater damage than one kilo of TNT.

Every time space trash collides space trash, more trash is born out of the impact. In 2009 two satellites, one relaying phone calls, and the other a defunct Russian communications center crashed and splintered into approximately 2,100 pieces. Though the crash’s immediate effects were small, resulting in dropped phone calls, the event proved correct Kessler’s theory.

A few dropped phone calls might not be alarming collateral, but what about the billion dollar International Space Station? The ISS has had too many encounters with lethal trash for the Kessler Effect to be taken lightly. 2010 saw two close calls when chunks of expired satellites zoomed within a mile’s reach of the ISS—each big enough to completely decimate laboratory.

And space trash is not just dangerous in space. Just like a plastic water bottle tossed to the ground, space trash eventually has no other way to go but down. There are approximately 20,000 bigger than softballs in the space junkyard and over half a million the size of marbles. Old motors, pieces of space stations, and fuel tanks have rained down on the Saudi Arabian desert, the Australian Outback, Texas and into a home in Siberia. As recently as last week, fifteen-ton defunct Russian spacecraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Wow. What a splash that must have made. Imagine the impact it would have made on land.

Indeed, with time, the stew of trash high above us becomes more and more lethal. For every space trash collision increases the chances of further collisions, making the cosmic shore a minefield that even Han Solo would find difficult to navigate. — Robin Kilmer

For more information read Space Debris: When Will We Clean Up Our Act? in the Huffington Post and Wired Magazine’s The Looming Space Junk Crisis: It’s Time to Take Out the Trash

On January 24th, the documentary film Searching for the First European (in Spanish with English subtitles) will be opening the new Culture & Science Series at the Cervantes Institute in Manhattan.

ISF’s Producer Luis Quevedo is curating this series of events that will blend equal parts of narrative and science into a dialogue between two renown characters.

The film is a road-movie flavored scientific journey where a young man searching for the origins of Europeans, and Eudald Carbonell, an eminent archaeologist and co-director of the excavations at the Archaeological Site of Atapuerca, travel through three continents in search of ancient clues that will shed light on the present and future of our species.

En Busca del Primer Europeo has been awarded “Best Documentary” in Spain’s 2011 “Prismas” prize; “Scientific Jury Grand Prize / Gran Premio della Giuria Scientifica Special Award / Menzione Speciale” in Rome’s 2011 DOCSCIENT; and “Oficial Selection” at the Zaragoza Film Festival 2011. Click here to watch the trailer.

We would love to see you all there! Join us at the Cervantes!

When: Tuesday, January 24th, 6:30pm
Where: Cervantes Institute, 211 East 49th Street, New York , NY 10017

Al Attara, in front of the the Metropolitan Exchange building on Flatbush Avenue, which he has owned for 32 years.
Photo by Benjamin Norman for The New York Times

The Imagine Science Films offices have relocated downtown to 33 Flatbush Avenue. The building, which from the outside is a staid and formal reminder of Brooklyn’s industrial past, is gaining a reputation for its unique group of renters and their spirit of reinvention. Artists, scientists, green architects, media designers and filmmakers fill the expansive lofts with their start-up businesses and new visions of the world. Some of our new neighbors include: Maria Aiolova and Mitchell Joachim of Terreform One, Janna Levin who is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University, and James Patten of Patten Studios.

Al Attara, owner and manager of 33 Flatbush first bought the former Metropolitan Exchange Bank 32 years ago for under $250,000. It was his vision to create an environment for artists, designers, and architects to work side by side in the 45,000-square-foot space and he has succeeded in doing just that.

ISF is very excited to join this inspiring atmosphere and is looking forward to contributing to the collaborative spirit.

Click here to read more about the history of ISF’s new offices.

ISF Artist in Residence Dustin Yellin has announced the release of his new magazine, Intercourse. Through photography, art, and interviews, Yellin’s new venture strives to be as provocative as its title while reenvisioning the reader/publisher relationship. The inaugural issue features an interview with Bob Colacello, whose views on modern culture are informed from his days editing Andy Warhol’s Interview and researching such biographical works as the one he crafted about Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Also featured: five contemporary artists discussing their work and its relation to the history of art, as well as Gibby Haynes, of Butthole Surfers fame, who describes his take on MGMT.

Click here to preview the issue.

Member Central gives AAAS Members exclusive access to an online community where ideas and the passion for discovery are shared. ISF will help develop their video channel, providing some of the best films depicting accurate science in an entertaining way. Videos will include winners from the Imagine Science Film Festival, as well as video work by ISF Artists in Residence. Films will teach AAAS Members about the newest scientific advancements and help them become part of a global community of people interested in advancing science.

AAAS has over 130,000 members around the world, including some of the most innovative people involved in science today. From newly minted Ph.D.s to Nobel Prize winners, K-12 teachers to policy makers, AAAS members contribute to the advancement of science in any number of ways. This includes video interviews, podcasts, and blog articles with AAAS members like Marjorie Townsend, recalling her career as one of NASA’s first female engineers, immunologist Carl Alving discussing his scientific insights, and archaeologist and lead Ardi author Tim White revealing what top apps he has on his iPod.

While connecting you with the member community, MemberCentral also covers the issues that matter most to you. From webinars discussing innovations in STEM education to downloadable reports on nuclear security, MemberCentral brings you insights and analysis that can help inform your work and your worldview.

If you’re not yet a AAAS member join us, and become a part of something special.

The first app distributed by Apple that supports 3-D features, called Solar Walk, provides any Apple iOS device user with the chance to check out the solar system in depth. The app is a navigable solar system model that is constantly updated and reflects time accurately. The viewer can visit 10 satellites, as well as the rest of the galaxy’s holdings up close. The app also provides informational videos and texts about the solar system. Star gazers, space enthusiasts, and curious patrons can check it all out on the go.

For iPad 2 and iPhone 4S users, Solar Walk has the ability to wirelessly mirror itself onto an Apple TV 2. If the user has a 3-D TV and 3-D glasses, the app will translate accordingly on the television as well. The viewer will be able to navigate the solar system on a large scale as well as with life-like depth perception.

Vito Technology Inc, Solar Walk‘s vendor, also sells Star Walk, which is a stargazing guide also available through Apple. Both apps are available at the AppStore for $2.99.