Friday, March 27, 2015

Foldscopes and 403: Round 1 of Images

Oh. My gosh. This is terrible. I haven't posted on here in months and I feel so rotten about that -- but to be completely honest, I have been SO BUSY with teaching, learning, experimenting, drawing, and just general life things.. I take the time when I can get it to update the blog. And this will be a BIG update so enjoy!

I am FINALLY in the last stretch of classes at NMU before Student Teaching and I could not be happier with that realization :). This semester has been so academically and personally rewarding and transformative. I am taking more time to work on the things I am interested in pursuing, becoming more organized, keeping my motivation levels at the highest highs, and accomplishing a great deal of work and to-do listing in the process! Needless to say, I am feeling good and ready for the next step forward into whatever comes. But on to the 403 plans..




About a year ago next month I applied to Prakash Lab's Foldscope project as I mentioned in an earlier blog post (WOW Wednesday: Microscopic Art. That was a really link-heavy paragraph and I apologize, but it's important to provide background!

SO #excited! Received my @foldscope beta testers in the mail a few days ago :) SO much #SCIENCE to be explored! #thankful #edtech
— Breanne Kanak (@MsBreKArt) December 12, 2014

After watching the Foldscope TED talk and thoroughly freaking out about the prospect of having a Foldscope (or even a set of scopes!) as a learning tool, I bit the bullet and put my name into a list for the Foldscope project... and received an email soon after!

 It was a long wait... but over Christmas break THIS YEAR I received my Prakash Lab Foldscope Beta-testers! I was so excited to open the package and put together some scopes to play and experiment with. My dad and I set to work constructing a few of the scopes, reading instructions carefully, and popping out the small pieces for each scope. The truly amazing thing about this technology is it originates from a SINGLE SHEET of specialized plastic-treated paper. Think paper dolls.. but for science?























ANYWAY, you have to remove the components from the sheet and then there is a specific order for putting together each scope. There are different strength lenses to use to see samples. I have been playing with high and low level lenses to see what kind of images come from each. My dad and I experimented with some 'samples' from the house like...

a stray crumb we found on the table
Each set of scopes came with one light (LED) circuit panel to attach to the scope and lens adapters. I knew right away what I wanted to do... I wanted to try out my Microscopic Art lesson from before! The lesson I had planned in my previous post was about nature and the surrounding animals and plants in the environment. My own experiments, samples, and findings with Foldscopes became much more personal than that... The first few snapshots were nothing special. I had taken samples of my own hair and put them together on a slide to see under the scope. You can see the progression of understanding and quality - you can never learn if you don't try!








check out those split ends :P
 I really wanted to see what "I" looked like under the scopes so I began digging deeper...
The next few blocks of text are from my 403 Artist Statement: 

 I have always been fascinated by microscopes. I have many memories of creating slides and samples from the environment around me just to see what tiny components made up the greater whole. The thought of seeing the tiniest living things and objects brought into sharp focus and magnified is a fascinating and remarkable one. Last year I was given the unique opportunity to take part in Stanford’s Foldscope Beta Testing program. Constructed of special paper, complete with lenses, light source, and slide-making supplies, this microscopy technology could take field medicine and diagnosis to areas of great need across the globe. My utilization of this unique technology concerns something much closer to home: my own health and wellness.
Foldscope technology allows me to take screenshots using my iPhone camera, which then provide me with images of these microscopic worlds to magnify and draw. In this series I wanted to explore my own health concerns through collected samples from various areas of my own body. Each sample is also a product of the day-to-day functions of life as a woman. This includes but is not limited to: skin, hair, blood, saliva, menstrual blood, tears, nails etc. The softness and illustrative quality of pastel accentuates the blurred but complex source photographs. The blackness surrounding each lens mimics the source images but also creates an air of mystery, uncertainty, and unease. The insides of our bodies are full of dark recesses and mysteries; when samples were brought into light under sharp focus amazing images appeared, regardless of their origins. As an art educator I believe in the importance of integrating the arts with other core subjects. Foldscopes allow access to draw and study previously unseen or unknown worlds and creatures that live, literally, under our very noses. We can actively integrate science and art simply by using one subject to inspire and inform the other, which is a powerful concept to teach. 
My hope is that by studying these bodily samples and portraying them in an appealing, beautiful medium people can begin to view and appreciate them in new ways. I also want to encourage viewers to gather and create their own slides to be viewed by others and possibly to also inspire new artistic creations and explorations. -- End statement.

After the initial getting-to-know you pleasantries of figuring out the best ways to use the scopes, my camera settings on my phone, the abilities of the scope and image quality... it was time to have fun!
I set out to gather as many samples as possible. Be warned! These images and their pairing captions are not for the squeamish - I have been having a lot of fun collecting and organizing them, but I am beyond strange, so take that as you will... Here is a small sampling of the images I have taken with the Foldscopes and my iPhone.

snot - boogers!
saliva - spit!
I believe these were skin cells from my face...
I rubbed the slide against my teeth for this one - tasty!
The next post will be all images, including drawings and more photographs!

Stay Tuned.. don't be too grossed out :)

Ms. Kanak
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Sunday, March 8, 2015

ArtLab3

Holy... MARCH.


It's been a minute, hasn't it?! This semester has been keeping me on my toes, in stitches, and busy busy busy. For once I have a chunk of time for myself - me, no one else - and I am able to catch up on some things that have fallen to the side. Finally... I can talk about ArtLab3! To begin with, a little background on ArtLab3..

"ArtLAB3 began with an open call for proposals from NMU School of Art & Design students during the Fall semester. Museum staff juries the proposals for short-run exhibitions in smaller exhibition spaces in the rear gallery of the museum. Featuring work by individual students, collaborative student groups, and course-driven projects curated by NMU School of Art & Design faculty. Through March 8, the mini-spaces will be rotated to show all winning proposals" - Cited from DeVos Art Museum website.

When my pieces from Individual Art Review were accepted into ArtLab and I installed my work in the big gallery it was such a huge moment of pride. Even more so when my family came from out of state and my friends showed up for the reception. Many moments have led to where I am now but I will never forget how proud my friends and family were upon seeing my work and installation. I am very grateful to the DeVos for giving me that opportunity to showcase my talents. My work was selected for display from January 16th til February 10th.

my mom pointing out her own father's name on the x-ray..

me, running my mouth haha 

My mom actually taught  me how to get the TV working!
 The biggest challenge in this process was learning to accept whatever mistakes were made or directions were taken. The 3D prints were designed and printed in the Digital Learning and Design Lab (DLDL) on NMU’s campus over the course of several months of experimentation and, frankly, many failed attempts. The DLDL has four Makerbot 3D printers which I was able to use along with Makerbot software and TinkerCAD to play and perfect my creative processes. The prints are rendered from the original drawings and present a new view of the existing lines on the paper. The 3D prints also create a more accurate sense of scale and allow viewers to touch and handle the physical manifestation of the ailment or creation. 

Photo for scale - I HAD A LOT OF SPACE, OKAY?!
artifacts - x-rays
the museum generously allowed me to use a monitor to display in-progress images

Large inkjet prints... I emphasize the word large.

Inkjet canvas prints were created from scanned images of the drawings using Photoshop for editing and resizing. A large format HP photo printer in the DLDL was the primary source of these large image experiments and final renderings. 

The canvases were actually sewn and stitched into their final display format by my grandmother, grandfather, father, and myself – which creates a cyclical and familial relationship to the works over all. A selection of people who were represented in the series of works came together to finish constructing their images, environments, and stories. That connection was unintentional but it became evident to me that it was monumentally important for these people to be involved in the hands-on creation of the final works.

Excerpt from statement:

Each group of four drawings operates as a series and represents a different person or people, condition or event. I draw directly onto standard sketchbook paper using Micron pens of varying sizes. The biggest challenge in this process is learning to accept whatever mistakes are made or directions are taken. The 3D prints of the drawings present a new view of the existing lines on the paper and create a more accurate sense of scale. Prints were created from scanned images of the drawings. Each person’s condition has been translated into structures and patterns unique to their individual story, creating identities through form and shape, through line density and overlap – decided during the execution of the drawings. Though not every found object, result, or artifact depicted in the series lead to a happy end or story, the catharsis of creating the works lightens the difficult emotional burdens I have carried with me over time.

Gramma: Series One

Iteration 1
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 2
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 3
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 4
Micron Pen on Paper

Papa: Series Two

Iteration 1
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 2
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 3
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 4
Micron Pen on Paper


Parents: Series Three

Iteration 1
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 2
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 3
Micron Pen on Paper

Iteration 4 
Micron Pen on Paper
Excerpt from statement:

Vicissitudes are natural changes or mutations, which are usually out of the realm of human control or prediction. Cancers, diseases, broken bones, deterioration, and conversely growth and healing can all be considered vicissitudes. In the past few years a number of my family members have had several serious health issues. Vicissitudes is a collection of highly detailed, abstract drawings, spanning across several years of these life altering and often frightening situations. Living nearly four hundred miles away from most of the people involved in the series created a literal distance, while hearing about family members’ respective conditions through indirect messages produced an overpowering emotional distance. I realized in order to create a series which evoked both healing and acceptance, for my own mental and emotional health, I needed to mask the true nature of images so I could begin to view them in a different way. Numerous personal artifacts and references including: X-rays, MRI scans, surgical photography, test results, and medical papers supplemented my process of reconstructing technical and highly personal information into abstract drawings. The structures I have designed loosely reference the body parts and systems being addressed in the aforementioned objects, events, and stories.
chatty chatty... explaining work to visitors
I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to my friends, family, and everyone who took the time to attend the reception(s) on January 16th. You are all the best support I could ever hope for and I enjoy sharing my work and life with you all so much. ArtLab was a hugely important experience for me to have as an artist and person, and you're all my favorite people here in the woods. So thank you for being there from near and far - it means the world to me... 

And to my readers - you being here, with your eyeballs on my webpage, is also pretty cool when I think about it. So thank you, as well, for taking the time to peer into the madness that is my life. I hope to continue my insane amounts of work and with that -- it's time to catch up on another post! 
So stay tuned - I've got big things in the works :) 

Happy happy :)
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