Chemical 3D Drawing Workshop
2020
Art & Science Workshop
University of Oxford
This workshop intends to demonstrate how to consider scientific content as art. To this end I would like to express my art practice as a chemistry demonstration. I will use chemicals to create simple chemical reactions and I will express these as a 3D 'chemical drawing'. I am going to prepare calcium lactate and sodium alginate as these will produce an interesting and simple chemical reaction. These chemicals are usually used to make artificial caviar ‒ or perhaps a
real fake caviar. This is a popular science experiment in Japan because originally this process was discovered by a Japanese company. In my workshop, I would like to extend this phenomenon to be not only an enjoyable science demonstration but also to be an artistic expression. In my workshop, it is not necessary to analyze it as scientific information. In my opinion, how to feel phenomena is more important than rational analysis. This can be easily felt in the context of an art workshop.
In addition, This concept is also useful to provoke consideration about contemporary art. This is because
the work we will produce will not rely on skilled draughtsmanship. I might say we cannot describe rather
than we do not draw in this situation. Is this a difficult situation to express something? I don't think so.
On the contrary, we can experience to 'draw' in 3D by making a gel ball, and thus appreciate a visual
rhythm easily. I believe that we can feel more free to express something if we are able to disregard the
concept of 'being able to draw'. And in a sense discard any thought of producing a drawing in any
conventional sense, but to observe and in observing make that an artistic expression. The chemical
reaction is conceptual and in its event a form is produced ‒ its incredible complexity is distilled into a
super simple pure form ‒ the gel ball. In a way ‒ looking/observing is 'drawing'.