Event 1

Today, I attended the Evo Devo art event hosted by Anna Lindemann. Evo Devo art is essentially art that explores biological and evolutionary processes. It seeks to examine the human emotion and subjectivity behind scientific research and uncover narratives through rigorous biological research. Especially for Anna, she personally utilizes creative animations within her performances to express her ideas, and she explained that she uses Evo Devo art as a medium of expression for the following three reasons. The first being that she has a desire to share amazing biological stories in an entertaining way to large audiences. The second being that it pushes her to harness her biological creativity, meaning that it may expand on her own creative possibilities. The third being that she believes it is a powerful means to provide human connection to other forms of art.

Anna Lindemann explaining her personal meaning of Evo Devo Art

What I found to be the most profound was how Anna's work strongly emphasizes the undeniable connection between the sciences and art. For instance, she used the gene network and its nuances to create traditionally composed music. This was perhaps the most interesting example that she mentioned because it cohesively combined the skills of coding, science, and art all into a single package. 

Combing the gene network with traditionally composed music

Anna also introduced one of her most recent performances "the colony" which explored the evolution of communication of ants and humans in relation to the topic of sisterhood. The performance was powerful because it was both an entertaining performance and provided the audience with a better understanding of this idea of communication among the ant species which most may not be familiar with. Additionally, it is another strong example of how the two cultures of art and science are intertwined such that the performance would not be possible without the implementation of both.

Anna Lindemann's performance "the colony"

Overall, this event really opened my eyes to how applicable science can be in art. I enjoyed the fact that Anna Lindemann was so energetic and passionate about teaching these audiences about different biological processes through her artistic talent. Moreover, Anna thoughtfully contributed to the conversation of the two cultures and has brought together concepts that are typically not related to one another which is what makes the message behind her performances so captivating. 


Sources:

“Evo Devo Art - Sanctuary for Independent Media.” The Sanctuary For Independent Media, https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/evo-devo-art/. 

Lindemann, Anna. “About & Contact Anna Lindemann.” Anna Lindemann, https://annalindemann.com/about. 

Lindemann, Anna. “Evo Devo Music Explanatory Animation: Gene Network Music Underlying Biology.” Vimeo, 9 Nov. 2017, https://vimeo.com/139090040. 

Lindemann, Anna. “The Colony.” Anna Lindemann, https://annalindemann.com/thecolony. 

Lindemann, Anna. “Evo Devo.” Anna Lindemann, https://annalindemann.com/evo-devo. 







Comments

  1. Kelli JonesApril 20, 2022 at 5:40 PM

    Hello Jonathan. I really enjoyed how science was made to create music! It is interesting how two cultures are associated with one another but the education system as always tried to reinforce how science and music are completely different entities. However, as Professor Vesna taught us, the arts and the sciences are connected, which can lead to something beautiful and abstract.

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