My adviser sent me a link to Aspen Mays the other day. Her work is really cool in general - conceptually deep while maintaining formal beauty. Awesome. But I especially want to talk about this particular show of hers: From the Offices of Scientists .
As the name suggests, this collection of works is constructed out of materials she found in scientists' offices. It points out, in a very funny, very poignant manner the mundanity of scientific research.
At its core, science is about asking the most profound questions we as a species have ever asked. It's seeking to find out where we came from, how we function, even the very nature of reality. That we can pool even some of our resources to that endeavor speaks bounds for the wisdom of our society (or at least gives me some hope to balance out my reaction from some of the more stupid crap we humans pull).
The reality of scientific research, however, is far from that sublime ideal. It happens in dingy basements on old office furniture. There's not enough money to fix equipment. Experimental results (those profound secrets mentioned above) are filed away in cardboard boxes.
These works crash together big ideas and everyday existence. This resulting loss of this romantic ideal is a little sad: even our greatest accomplishments can't transcend the everyday. At the same time, it is quite hopeful. Even though we can't escape our blah material existence, we don't have to to achieve great things.
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