Materials – Karyn Easton

Mar 28

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

Mattering Life Day #5

Presentations & Evening Event – This morning the whole room was a hive of activity. We were each given a slot to present our work. Charlotte ‘played a blinder’ because she volunteered for us to go first in order to get it over and done with. I absolutely agreed with her sentiment, because it meant that we could sit back and relax and enjoy the presentations from everyone else. Both Kismat and Hyejo worked phenomenally hard to finish the zine and the Powerpoint presentation respectively. I was really feeling the pressure too because I had a short film to produce. I think as a team we all worked amazingly well together! PowerPoint Presentation PDF The following PowerPoint presentation was put together by Hyejo who worked really hard on Friday morning to compile everything ready for our presentation. Beyond Earth PowerPoint Presentation Film Below is the film that I created for the group. The video is a mix of my photographs of Charlotte’s dendritic paintings and my AI filtered time-lapses of Sarah, Leah and Hyejo’s growing chemical gardens. Zine Kismat who is studying for an MA in graphic design worked really hard to […]

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 23

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

Mattering Life – Day #3

Choosing a Team – Day three was all about formulating our ideas and finding a team that we each felt most aligned with those ideas. The ideas window had certainly continued to grow from the day before. Topics Begin to Emerge Slowly but surely topics began to emerge. Ideas were grouped onto six white boards. Below are pictures of the whiteboards with ideas. Project Titles Eventually everyone settled on their groups and project titles although some of the decisions weren’t finalised till day four. I was quite worried at first as my ideas just didn’t seem to fit anywhere. I felt quite sad especially as one of the groups was vociferously against any notion of AI. Given my research paper I should have known that some people would be opposed to AI. However, after wandering around aimlessly for a while, I finally found my fit and a great set of team members. Below are the project titles which developed from the topic boards above. I chose the project team ‘Beyond Earth’ and they very kindly let me join them. Meet the Team Afternoon in the Grow Lab We all spent Wednesday afternoon […]

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 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 […]

Mattering Life Day #5

Mattering Life – Day #4

Mattering Life – Day #3

Mattering Life – Workshops Day #2

Mattering Life Day #2

Mattering Life – Workshops Day #1

Mattering Life Day #1

Low Residency Day #3

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