Elvatech’s Post

The Role of Art in Taxonomy: In the past centuries, art was a foundational tool in taxonomy, especially in our exemple in describing scorpion taxa. Key pioneers in this field include the French scorpiologist “Max Vachon”, whose meticulous work and exceptional illustrations were invaluable to taxonomy. Today, despite advancements in photographic and microscopic technology, some scorpiologist and taxonomist continue to adopt the «old school» approach that emphasizes illustration. The debate between the «old school», which values drawing, and the «new school», which favors photography, underscores the continuing importance of illustration in taxonomy over the past two centuries. Morphological drawings are generally “selectives”, allowing accurate representation of specific features with an emphasis on the most diagnostically important caracters. Another critical dimension of this approach is the issue of accuracy. When comparing biological specimens with illustrations in some original papers, significant differences sometimes emerge. In contrast, photography provides an objective depiction of morphological reality. However, the artistic value of the drawing should not be discounted, also sometimes helps to understand some morphological caracters more accurately, but it should not be relied upon alone because it is insufficient in our time. Illustration: My drawing of a Hadogenes sp (South Africa).

The camera obscura, a fascinating precursor to the photographic camera, has a rich history. Let’s explore the inventors and their contributions: 1. Ibn AL-Haytham (Alhazen): - An Arab physicist and scholar, Ibn AL-Haytham (c. 965–1040 AD) made significant strides in understanding the camera obscura. - He conducted experiments with light in darkened rooms, using small openings to project images. - Ibn AL-Haytham is often credited with inventing the pinhole camera, which operates on similar principles to the camera obscura 2. Johann Zahn: - In 1685, Johann Zahn envisioned the first "small and portable camera obscura" specifically for practical photography. - However, it took nearly 150 years for such an application to become feasible. 3. Friedrich Risner: - Scientist Friedrich Risner (d. 1580) contributed to the evolution of the camera obscura. - He invented a portable version of the camera housed in a collapsible tent. 4. Johannes Kepler: - The term “camera obscura” was first used by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century. - He employed it for astronomical applications and even had a portable tent camera for surveying in Upper Austria. These inventors played crucial roles in shaping the development of the camera obscura, which eventually paved the way for modern photography. 📷 #camera #Camera Obscura #camerastory #cameras #cameratracking #camerahistory #camera invention #camerainventors #evolution of the camera obscura #camera obscura significant strides #pinhole camera

Although Europe missed the recent solar eclipse, the excitement from those who witnessed it flooded our feeds. 🌒 Delve into the captivating lineage of solar eclipse-inspired art through this enlightening Smithsonian Magazine article. 📰 From ancient civilizations to modern interpretations, artists worldwide have been mesmerized by these celestial spectacles, shaping a diverse array of artistic expressions. 🛖 Explore how eclipses have served as profound muses for painters, sculptors, and creatives across cultures, weaving themes of wonder, mystery, and awe into their works. Gain deeper insight into humanity’s timeless fascination with the cosmic ballet between the sun and the moon, beautifully portrayed through the lens of art. 🌞🌜 #art #artmatters #creativity #creativitymatters #artworld #solareclipse #eclipse #smithsonian #innovation #teambuildling #teambuildingactivities #teambuildingevents #history #artxp https://lnkd.in/ga7drPaT

Penrose Triangle 🔺 The Penrose triangle, also known as the impossible triangle, is a triangular impossible object, an optical illusion consisting of an object which can be depicted in a perspective drawing, but cannot exist as a solid object. It was first created by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934. Independently from Reutersvärd, the triangle was devised and popularized in the 1950s by psychiatrist Lionel Penrose and his son, prominent Nobel Prize-winning mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, who described it as "impossibility in its purest form". The tribar/triangle appears to be a solid object, made of three straight beams of square cross-section which meet pairwise at right angles at the vertices of the triangle they form. The beams may be broken, forming cubes or cuboids. This combination of properties cannot be realized by any three-dimensional object in ordinary Euclidean space. Such an object can exist in certain Euclidean 3-manifolds. There also exist three-dimensional solid shapes each of which, when viewed from a certain angle, appears the same as the 2-dimensional depiction of the Penrose triangle on this page (such as – for example – the adjacent image depicting a sculpture in Perth, Australia). The term "Penrose Triangle" can refer to the 2-dimensional depiction or the impossible object itself.

New artwork - DM for inquiry Leonora/Leonardo VII Acrylic and polymer on canvas 70x39cm 2024 In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci delved into the architect Vitruvius’ theory on human movement within circles and squares, blending the human form with geometry. He used male models and cadavers to study and highlight the “ideal body”, emphasizing perfect proportions akin to human anatomy. This exploration, rooted in the belief that “man is the measure of all things” as the philosopher Protagoras said. This belief impacted the understanding of the female body, historically overshadowed by the male perspective. This series challenges the traditional focus on the Vitruvian man, now exploring anatomy through abstract, expressive strokes with a queer approach. Imagine if Vitruvius had been a woman and Leonardo had been Leonora – how would this have shaped our world? #contemporarypainting #fineart #samtidskunst #artnow #bodyart #queerart #leg #knee #anatomy #medicalhistory #science #expressionism #actionpainting #henriettehellstern #artcollector #artforsale

Benja Thompson, one of our 2024 Archiving & Preservation Fellows, shares their experience working with LEIMAY. Read their first article, The Space Between, and learn how they considered the particular needs, challenges, and gifts of an archive of multimedia, community-based, personal and artistic materials. Find the article at https://lnkd.in/ewSXwgcu Image description: “Kinetic Resonances.” Date of Completion: August 13, 2023. Materials: Live performance on digital film. Kinetic Resonances is an immersive sculptural installation and a durational dance performance consisting of a series of kinetic string-sculptures powered by performers' bodies. The work allows for multiple interplays between the environment, the materials of the body, and the sculpture. It explores the relationship between space, materials, and bodies and how each is affected by the other revealing the physics of causality and potentials for interconnectivity. Pictured: a dance artist, facing toward the camera, is leaping up while looking up into white strings hanging down from above. The background behind the artist is dark. Photo courtesy of LEIMAY. #DanceArchives #Archives

The Biennale 2024 kicked off in Venice and will run until November. 330 artists from 80 countries will exhibit their works under the motto “Foreigners Everywhere”. In addition to art (as in visual art), there will be sections for architecture, film, dance, music and theatre. This leads to the question why these topics, also artistic in nature, are listed separately. But more on that topic later. The Israeli artist Ruth Patir chose to keep her exhibition “M(o)therland” closed, in agreement with her curators Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit, combined with the demand to release the remaining 133 Israeli hostages first, and agree on a ceasefire in Gaza. Apparently, Ruth Patir’s works can be seen through the windows of the Israeli pavilion, but one cannot enter - the pavilion remains closed. In her unvisitable exhibition, Ruth Patir deals with the fate of Israeli and Palestinian women who lost their lives in the war: "The archaeological female figurines are palm-sized statuettes that have been enlarged and brought to life, in a sense, through 3D animation. Patir works with excavated artifacts of female figurines from the ancient Levant, shards that are typically stored in museum basements." Without doubt (and according to current opinion), one has to regard what’s inside the pavilion as art - very likely as good art. If it wasn’t, Israel would not have chosen Ruth Patir as its representative at the Biennale. The act of closing the pavilion and the refusal to show the exhibits are also art, maybe even the more important one. If Ruth Patir’s art conveys primarily a political or humanitarian message, the closing and the resulting media impact will most likely amplify her message. Of course, one cannot buy this kind of art, the invisible exhibits may be for sale.

3&4D Sculptures. The Importance of the Artist and Your Perspective. The Viewer. The Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beholder! What is your favorite view? How do you feel about the merits of this unique art?

Weston Lambert x Justin Wiggan: A Sonic Exploration This unique collaboration between sculptor @westonlambert and sound artist Justin Wiggan ( @glassedtwin )brings together the solid and the sonic through the biosonification of basalt stone and glass. The sounds you hear reflect the subtle changes in energy and life force captured from these materials. Basalt is the foundation of more than 90% of Earth's volcanic rock and also forms significant portions of the surfaces of other planets, including Venus, whose basalt plains cover 80% of its surface. Glass, made from silica, has long been a medium of transformation, from liquid to solid, representing transparency and fragility. Using biosonification technology, Wiggan transforms the vibrations and energies within these materials into immersive soundscapes, revealing their hidden frequencies and life force. This project blends Lambert's deep understanding of form with Wiggan's pioneering work in sound, creating a multisensory experience. Filmed at The Lost Gardens of Heligan @heligangardens by @keep.it.reel.uk #WestonLambert #JustinWiggan #Biosonification #SoundArt #Basalt #GlassArt #PlanetaryConnections #EnergyAndForm #SonicAlchemy #ArtAndScience

Leonardo Da Vinci, the renowned Italian artist, was highlighted during the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games.  He was particularly portrayed as a devoted craftsman of Christianity through his art, such as "The Last Supper," which depicts the biblical scene of Jesus' final meal with his disciples.  While many reproductions of his work convey religious themes from the Bible, the original pieces seem secular, likely to avoid offending the Papal States and other European leaders of that era.  However, this does not imply that he was not a staunch adversary of the Catholic Church and biblical narratives.  For instance, "The Virgin of the Rocks," which represents the Immaculate Conception of Jesus by the Virgin Mary, includes elements criticized by the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, the inclusion of marine wildlife in the painting's landscape challenges the contemporary notion of life's creation on Earth.  As a scientist, Da Vinci approached the concept of evolution through his study of geography.  He noted that marine wildlife could be found in the Alps, remnants of ancient geological formations elevated during the mountain range's formation. The concept of creation was thus unequivocally contested: "What does all this mean to how we read the pair of masterpieces that are the Virgin of the Rocks? The claim here that Leonardo was capable of sculpting a complex and ambiguous symbol with competing meanings is hardly revelatory. His was an incorrigibly unifying imagination that perceived correspondences of form where others would be likely only to see difference and discord. But merging a palm tree with a scallop shell in a mountain cave is much riskier in its religious implications than conflating the nautilus shell with an elaborate hairdo. By secreting within his paintings an allusion to the heretical contention that seashells found in rocky mountain landscapes are evidence that the Church’s teachings on the creation of the Earth were wrong-headed and superstitious, Leonardo left himself and his work vulnerable to charges of heresy. (When the French inventor Bernard Palissy made similar observations publically a century later, he was violently denounced.) Leonardo’s determination to create such a subversive symbol (not once, but twice) suggests just how important it was for him to bear witness, however subtle or encoded, to the beautifully blasphemous truth of nature. The easily overlooked scallop/palm, crouching quietly in the shadowy margins of the works, transforms his masterpieces into subversive ruminations on the Earth’s geological evolution – the cold and icy predicament in which we all find ourselves stranded and desperate for a soul-salvaging miracle." #LeonardoDaVinci #TheVirginoftheRocks #Creation #Evolution #Subversion