Jim Cogswell
University of Michigan, USA
Abstract
Molecular Delirium
In 2009 I completed a mural-scaled painting under the spell of the recent INSAP conference in Venice and the mosaics of Ravenna. Molecular Delirium is composed of several thousand fragments of hand painted paper plates, systematically cut into arcs and adhered to panels in a bed of adhesive caulk. This mural responds to an array of scientific images based on astronomical research, in particular, computer models of the complex physics controlling star formation in our Galaxy. Stars form in dense clouds of molecular hydrogen assemble by colliding gas streams over several million years, until they start to collapse under their own weight and star formation sets in. The astronomer Dr. Fabian Heitsch’s images of colliding gas streams being swept up into massive clouds had a particular influence on this work.
My talk will examine the astronomical influences on Molecular Delirium, with particular attention to contemporary astronomical instrumentation, which has expanded my awareness of light and colour beyond the optical spectrum. Also, fundamental to this work are the perceptual and philosophical implications of artistically imaging the fragmentary and incomplete, sensations of energy in continuous transformation, and the anxiety and exhilaration of perpetual genesis through which we glimpse the unfathomable infinite.
PowerPoint and MP3 of Jim's presentation
Biographical Details
Jim Cogswell is Arthur J. Thurnau Professor of Art & Design at the University of Michigan faculty, where his teaching has focused primarily on painting and drawing. While his own studio practice is based in painting, drawing, and printmaking, he has also worked in ceramic tile and sculpture, video animation, stage design, multi-media installation, and publicly sited murals using materials as diverse as rubber stamps, adhesive shelf paper, and machine-cut vinyl. His artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally. During the 1992-93 academic year he was the Charles P. Brauer Faculty Fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities and in 1999 he received the Michigan Arts Award. In 2008 he was appointed an Arthur J. Thurnau Professor, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. Drawn to interdisciplinary projects, Cogswell has collaborated with a number of University colleagues: dancers, composers, scientists, musicians and poets. His interest in astronomical imagery has resulted in a number of recent works for public spaces.
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