Lectures – Karyn Easton

Mar 29

by Karyn in Experimentation, Lectures, Unit 3 Blogs 0 comments tags: Experimentation, Lectures, Unit 3 Blogs

Mattering Life Recap

The Mattering Life – Scientist in Residence Full Recap – I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Mattering Life – Scientist in Residence programme headed up by Heather Barnett. I felt this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me that I will never forget. I met some wonderful scientists, fellow students and researchers and also learned lots of new processes, sampled lots of materials and equipment and found new creative ways to explore. Please see below for a list of links that show the daily activity on throughout the 5 days of the residency. DAY 1 – Workshops DAY 2 – UCL lab talks and tour DAY 3 – Choosing a Team Day 4 – Professor Kosuke Fujishima & More Lab Time Day 5 – Presentations and Evening Event

Mar 28

by Karyn in Collaborations, Experimentation, Lectures, Materials, Photography, Unit 3 Blogs 0 comments tags: Collaborations, Experimentation, Lectures, Materials, Photography, Unit 3 Blogs

Mattering Life – Day #4

Professor Kosuke Fujishima & More Lab Time – This morning we had a talk by Professor Kosuke Fujishima from the Fujishima Lab at the Earth Life Sciences Institute in the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Experiments from The Grow Lab The plan for today was to to get as much material as possible together in order to assemble a presentation that would align with our chosen topic of ‘Beyond Earth’ and the chemical gardens. Shem the lab technician had suggested that displacing the chemical garden solution and replacing it with epoxy resin might be a great way of preserving the structures. As lab space had been particularly tight in the last ‘Grow Lab Session’ only 3 members of each group were allowed to work in there at any given time. We managed to organise this really well between us. I was interested in recording what was being created and Kismat wanted to remain behind to work on the group’s zine. We decided to create a short film, a variety of chemical gardens and a zine for our presentation scheduled for tomorrow morning. Below is a selection of images and closeups that I took of my chemical garden and […]

Mar 19

by Karyn in Collaborations, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Lectures, Materials, My Learning, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: Collaborations, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Lectures, Materials, My Learning, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Mattering Life – Workshops Day #2

Samples Collection & Experimentation – As we arrived back at CSM most of us were feeling pretty tired. It had been an intense but very enjoyable morning in the science labs at UCL (University College London). However, we were all pretty excited to start collecting our samples. We felt it would be a great idea to collect some canal water, some moss, and some leaves. I was really keen to examine the dregs of my Chai Latte so I popped some in a little sample bottle. I wasn’t so keen to grab the canal water but luckily Charlotte a fellow member of the group was on hand to do this. Charlotte Collecting Samples Below is a mix of clips from Days #1 and #2 – they range from crystal garden crystals, to sample collecting, to fruit fly equipment and oxygen free cabinets. Sample Analysis and Experimentation After Lunch we had a quick de-brief then we headed off into the grow lab for some sample analysis and experimentation. Shem and Barbera were our technicians. Shem produced the first four of the following time-lapse sequences. The rest were produced by our group and shot by […]

Mar 19

by Karyn in Collaborations, Food for Thought, Lectures, Materials, My Learning, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: Collaborations, Food for Thought, Lectures, Materials, My Learning, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Mattering Life Day #2

UCL Lab talks and Tour – Below are the speakers and the order in which we met them all. I was absolutely ‘blown away’ by their enthusiasm and knowledge of their subject areas. It was clear that every single one of them was really excited by their respective research. They are all on a mission to understand the origins of life. I thoroughly enjoyed my once in a lifetime visit to what I call the ‘origins of life lab’ at UCL. Talk Images Talk Images Enrique was working with fruit flies to look for chemical signals. Below are some of the images from his talk. Talk Images Feixue was doing work using a special chamber that allowed for the omission of oxygen. Each of us tried putting our hands into the chamber. This was so that the early conditions of earth could be replicated. We all commented on how difficult it must be to work under those circumstances. This is because your hands are encased in on only white gloves but also a layer of relatively thick rubber. Oxygen Free Chamber Below is a video short showing how the the oxygen free chamber is accessed. Talk […]

Mar 19

by Karyn in Collaborations, Lectures, Materials, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: Collaborations, Lectures, Materials, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Mattering Life – Workshops Day #1

Workshops from Day #1 In the afternoon we had two workshops – one was with Alice Taylor and the second was in the ‘Grow Lab’. Workshop #1 We were invited to consider the following and then add our thoughts to the window. Questions Below are the questions we considered. The Results Interestingly 3 people from our group all suggested ‘movement’ as a sign of life. It appears to have been a popular choice. Grow Lab Workshop Below are some images from our time in the Grow Lab. We each learned how to make a crystal garden and how to produce different coloured sheens with chemical compounds.

Mar 18

by Karyn in Collaborations, Experimentation, Lectures, Materials, Timelapse, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: Collaborations, Experimentation, Lectures, Materials, Timelapse, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Mattering Life Day #1

Grow Lab Intro, Lectures and Workshop – Today was the first day of the ‘Mattering Life’ Programme. Firstly, I needed to attend the ‘Grow Lab’ at 10.00am for an induction session. Here we went through everything we needed to be safe while using the lab. Heather Barnett – Introductory Talk After completing our induction session Heather introduced us all to the people we would be working with throughout the week. We filled out our consent forms and she also gave an introductory talk. I have included a selection of slides for reference. A Selection of Intro Slides Talk By Nick Lane Next we had a talk by Nick Lane which helped to highlight some of the problems that science was facing when trying to define ‘What is Life?’ and ‘What is Living’ Below are a selection of slides for reference. Nick Lane – Selection of Slides Masahiko Hara The next talk was by Masahiko Hara, who posed the question ‘What is Colour, Fundamentally?’ On balance it would seem that colour is as a result of brain perception as opposed to eye perception. The eyes ‘see’ but it is the brain that actually decoded the […]

Mar 11

by Karyn in Artists, Lectures, Low Residency, Problem Solving, Unit 3 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Artists, Lectures, Low Residency, Problem Solving, Unit 3 Blogs, Videos

Low Residency Day #4

Arduino Tones & Artist Talk – Today was a really busy day because my group had a very brain intensive technical making session with Karsten Goodwin. This was followed by an artist talk by Nathan Télémaqu. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it, but I was soooo tired at the end of the day. Interactive sound and light workshop (LDR trumpet) In class, we explored microcontrollers and electronics. We looked at the interplay of light sound and code in a project based learning environment. We used light to bend tones on a custom circuit and learnt how to program and in order to play our own custom instruments. Below are photos of some of the steps that were taken to make our custom circuits and program it to work with an Arduino Uno. The Workshop Environment The Breadboard Wiring Steps A Selection of Karsten’s Slides Below is a gallery of some of Karsten’s main information slides for future reference. These include his GitHub address where he will be posting the full presentation. The Fully Connected Breadboard and Arduino The Results The start of this video short shows Karsten with the kit fully wired, followed by […]

Mar 10

by Karyn in Food for Thought, Lectures, Low Residency, Materials, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: Food for Thought, Lectures, Low Residency, Materials, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Low Residency Day #3

Materials Workshop with Julia Flood – Today we had a gallery visit to the New Contemporaries Gallery. Unfortunately I needed to travel to Victoria coach station (long story), so sadly I couldn’t make it. Outside Victoria Coach Station However, I was able to attend the workshop by Julia Flood. This was all about the range of materials and materials info accessible at the college. To start the session Julia gave us each a pencil and explained how even something as mundane as a pencil has a story. For example what about the lead in the pencil, the wood that it’s made from, what it is coated in etc. Although some of the background to the pencil could be quite easily researched other parts such as the metal binding of the eraser were not. I found her words particularly thought provoking in relation to my own project work. I have been working a lot with recycled card and recycled card tubes. Hopefully, these items will have a relatively easy background to discover. However, the key-rings that I have used quite extensively throughout my work, possibly less so. In order to help with the process Julia gave us some sheets […]

Mar 09

by Karyn in Artists, Lectures, Low Residency, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: Artists, Lectures, Low Residency, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Low Residency Day #2

What is Book? Today we had a workshop by Rosie Sherwood all about book book making. We started the session by asking the simple question ‘What is Book?’. We discussed our answers and Rosie gave us some official definitions to throw into the mix. Below are a selection of these definitions and a slides for reference. A Selection of Slides A Selection of Books Below are a selection of books from Rosie’s book art collection. Many of them were hand made and all of them were very beautiful! They gave me lots of inspiration! There’s just something inherently beautiful about handmade books. They are so tactile and it was very kind of Rosie to allow us to handle them. Trip to the Bookarts Bookshop After looking at the example books we headed off to the Bookarts Bookshop near the Old Street tube station. It was 2 stops on the Northern Line from Kings Cross. Even though it was a tiny shop it was filled to the brim with all kinds of books with many limited edition of handmade. It was an absolute gem! I could have spent all day there, but we needed to grab […]

Mar 08

by Karyn in 3d, Artists, Collaborations, Experimentation, Lectures, Low Residency, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops 0 comments tags: 3d, Artists, Collaborations, Experimentation, Lectures, Low Residency, Unit 3 Blogs, Workshops

Low Residency Day #1

All Things Pink – We had lots of fun today! Alex Schady put on a fab pink themed workshop. If I’m totally honest I struggled to get my sculpture to ‘work’ exactly as I wanted it to, but it was still a great session! I got a little sidetracked by some of the materials I was using. I became quite absorbed by the layers of plastic that I could create. However, the project brief required the sculpture to hold a smartphone. Unfortunately my sculpture was a little flimsy and my phone very heavy, so it was a recipe for disaster. Luckily my creation just about managed to make it to the end of the day. Below is a picture of Alex Schady in the photographic studio wearing his sculpture. I really liked Alex’s creation, which was a much better and more solid design for holding a smartphone. Shots of My Creation Below are some shots of my strange pink layered sculpture. Sadly it really struggled to hold my heavy iPhone. However, I did manage to shoot some video. Textures I was really intrigued by the textures created by the plastic layers of my creation. So when […]

Mattering Life Recap

Mattering Life – Day #4

Mattering Life – Workshops Day #2

Mattering Life Day #2

Mattering Life – Workshops Day #1

Mattering Life Day #1

Low Residency Day #4

Low Residency Day #3

Low Residency Day #2

Low Residency Day #1

Recent Posts

Categories

Tags

Recent Comments