Hyperbolic geometry
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Lines through a given point P and asymptotic to line R.
A triangle immersed in a saddle-shape plane (a hyperbolic paraboloid), as well as two diverging ultraparallel lines.In mathematics, hyperbolic geometry (also called Lobachevskian geometry or Bolyai-Lobachevskian geometry) is a non-Euclidean geometry, meaning that the parallel postulate of Euclidean geometry is replaced. The parallel postulate in Euclidean geometry is equivalent to the statement that, in two dimensional space, for any given line l and point P not on l, there is exactly one line through P that does not intersect l; i.e., that is parallel to l. In hyperbolic geometry there are at least two distinct lines through P which do not intersect l, so the parallel postulate is false. Models have been constructed within Euclidean geometry that obey the axioms of hyperbolic geometry, thus proving that the parallel postulate is independent of the other postulates of Euclid.

Because there is no precise hyperbolic analogue to Euclidean parallel lines, the hyperbolic use of parallel and related terms varies among writers. In this article, the two limiting lines are called asymptotic and lines sharing a common perpendicular are called ultraparallel; the simple word parallel may apply to both.

A characteristic property of hyperbolic geometry is that the angles of a triangle add to less than a straight angle (half circle). In the limit as the vertices go to infinity, there are even ideal hyperbolic triangles in which all three angles are 0°.

Contents [hide]
1 Non-intersecting lines
2 Triangles
3 Circles, Spheres, and Balls
4 History
5 Models of the hyperbolic plane
6 Visualizing hyperbolic geometry
7 Gyrovector spaces
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links


[edit] Non-intersecting lines
An interesting property of hyperbolic geometry follows from the occurrence of more than one parallel line through a point P: there are two classes of non-intersecting lines. Let B be the point on l such that the line PB is perpendicular to l. Consider the line x through P such that x does not intersect l, and the angle θ between PB and x counterclockwise from PB is as small as possible; i.e., any smaller angle will force the line to intersect l. This is called an asymptotic line in hyperbolic geometry. Symmetrically, the line y that forms the same angle θ between PB and itself but clockwise from PB will also be asymptotic. x and y are the only two lines asymptotic to l through P. All other lines through P not intersecting l, with angles greater than θ with PB, are called ultraparallel (or disjointly parallel) to l. Notice that since there are an infinite number of possible angles between θ and 90 degrees, and each one will determine two lines through P and disjointly parallel to l, there exist an infinite number of ultraparallel lines.

Thus we have this modified form of the parallel postulate: In hyperbolic geometry, given any line l, and point P not on l, there are exactly two lines through P which are asymptotic to l, and infinitely many lines through P ultraparallel to l.

The differences between these types of lines can also be looked at in the following way: the distance between asymptotic lines shrinks toward zero in one direction and grows without bound in the other; the distance between ultraparallel lines (eventually) increases in both directions. The ultraparallel theorem states that there is a unique line in the hyperbolic plane that is perpendicular to each of a given pair of ultraparallel lines.

In Euclidean geometry, the angle of parallelism is a constant; that is, any distance between parallel lines yields an angle of parallelism equal to 90°. In hyperbolic geometry, the angle of parallelism varies with the Π(p) function. This function, described by Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, produces a unique angle of parallelism for each distance . As the distance gets shorter, Π(p) approaches 90°, whereas with increasing distance Π(p) approaches 0°. Thus, as distances get smaller, the hyperbolic plane behaves more and more like Euclidean geometry. Indeed, on small scales compared to , where is the (constant) Gaussian curvature of the plane, an observer would have a hard time determining whether he is in the Euclidean or the hyperbolic plane.

[edit] Triangles
Distances in the hyperbolic plane can be measured in terms of a unit of length , analogous to the radius of the sphere in spherical geometry. Using this unit of length a theorem in hyperbolic geometry can be stated which is analogous to the Pythagorean theorem. If are the legs and is the hypotenuse of a right triangle all measured in this unit then:


The cosh function is a hyperbolic function which is an analog of the standard cosine function. All six of the standard trigonometric functions have hyperbolic analogs. In trigonometric relations involving the sides and angles of a hyperbolic triangle the hyperbolic functions are applied to the sides and the standard trigonometric functions are applied to the angles. For example the law of sines for hyperbolic triangles is:



For more of these trigonometric relationships see hyperbolic triangles.

Unlike Euclidean triangles whose angles always add up to 180 degrees or π radians the sum of the angles of a hyperbolic triangle is always strictly less than 180 degrees. The difference is sometimes referred to as the defect. The area of a hyperbolic triangle is given by its defect multiplied by R2 where . As a consequence all hyperbolic triangles have an area which is less than πR2. The area of an ideal hyperbolic triangle is equal to this maximum.

As in spherical geometry the only similar triangles are congruent triangles.

[edit] Circles, Spheres, and Balls
In hyperbolic geometry the circumference of a circle is greater than times the diameter. It is in fact equal to


where is the radius of the circle. Its area is


The volume of a sphere is


where again is the radius and its surface area is

.
For the the surface of a sphere in n dimensional space the corresponding expression is


where is full the n dimensional solid angle:

.
The denominator uses the gamma function.

The volume of the ball in n dimensional space is:

.
[edit] History
A number of geometers made attempts to prove the parallel postulate by assuming its negation and trying to derive a contradiction, including Proclus, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), Omar Khayyám,[1] Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Witelo, Gersonides, Alfonso, and later Giovanni Gerolamo Saccheri, John Wallis, Johann Heinrich Lambert, and Legendre.[2] Their attempts failed, but their efforts gave birth to hyperbolic geometry.

The theorems of Alhacen, Khayyam and al-Tusi on quadrilaterals, including the Ibn al-Haytham–Lambert quadrilateral and Khayyam–Saccheri quadrilateral, were the first theorems on hyperbolic geometry. Their works on hyperbolic geometry had a considerable influence on its development among later European geometers, including Witelo, Gersonides, Alfonso, John Wallis and Saccheri.[3]

In the 18th century, Johann Heinrich Lambert introduced the hyperbolic functions and computed the area of a hyperbolic triangle.

In the nineteenth century, hyperbolic geometry was extensively explored by János Bolyai and Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, after whom it sometimes is named. Lobachevsky published in 1830, while Bolyai independently discovered it and published in 1832. Carl Friedrich Gauss also studied hyperbolic geometry, describing in a 1824 letter to Taurinus that he had constructed it, but did not publish his work. In 1868, Eugenio Beltrami provided models of it, and used this to prove that hyperbolic geometry was consistent if Euclidean geometry was.

The term "hyperbolic geometry" was introduced by Felix Klein in 1871.[4]

For more history, see article on non-Euclidean geometry, and the references Coxeter and Milnor.

[edit] Models of the hyperbolic plane
There are four models commonly used for hyperbolic geometry: the Klein model, the Poincaré disc model, the Poincaré half-plane model, and the Lorentz model, or hyperboloid model. These models define a real hyperbolic space which satisfies the axioms of a hyperbolic geometry. Despite the naming, the two disc models and the half-plane model were introduced as models of hyperbolic space by Beltrami, not by Poincaré or Klein.


Poincaré disc model of great rhombitruncated {3,7} tiling
Lines through a given point and asymptotic to a given line, illustrated in the Poincaré disc modelThe Klein model, also known as the projective disc model and Beltrami-Klein model, uses the interior of a circle for the hyperbolic plane, and chords of the circle as lines.
This model has the advantage of simplicity, but the disadvantage that angles in the hyperbolic plane are distorted.
The distance in this model is the cross-ratio, which was introduced by Arthur Cayley in projective geometry.
The Poincaré disc model, also known as the conformal disc model, also employs the interior of a circle, but lines are represented by arcs of circles that are orthogonal to the boundary circle, plus diameters of the boundary circle.
The Poincaré half-plane model takes one-half of the Euclidean plane, as determined by a Euclidean line B, to be the hyperbolic plane (B itself is not included).
Hyperbolic lines are then either half-circles orthogonal to B or rays perpendicular to B.
Both Poincaré models preserve hyperbolic angles, and are thereby conformal. All isometries within these models are therefore Möbius transformations.
The half-plane model is identical (at the limit) to the Poincaré disc model at the edge of the disc
The Lorentz model or hyperboloid model employs a 2-dimensional hyperboloid of revolution (of two sheets, but using one) embedded in 3-dimensional Minkowski space. This model is generally credited to Poincaré, but Reynolds (see below) says that Wilhelm Killing and Karl Weierstrass used this model from 1872.
This model has direct application to special relativity, as Minkowski 3-space is a model for spacetime, suppressing one spatial dimension. One can take the hyperboloid to represent the events that various moving observers, radiating outward in a spatial plane from a single point, will reach in a fixed proper time. The hyperbolic distance between two points on the hyperboloid can then be identified with the relative rapidity between the two corresponding observers.
[edit] Visualizing hyperbolic geometry

A collection of crocheted hyperbolic planes, in imitation of a coral reef, by the Institute For FiguringM. C. Escher's famous prints Circle Limit III and Circle Limit IV illustrate the conformal disc model quite well. In both one can see the geodesics. (In III the white lines are not geodesics, but hypercycles, which run alongside them.) It is also possible to see quite plainly the negative curvature of the hyperbolic plane, through its effect on the sum of angles in triangles and squares.

For example, in Circle Limit III every vertex belongs to three triangles and three squares. In the Euclidean plane, their angles would sum to 450°; i.e., a circle and a quarter. From this we see that the sum of angles of a triangle in the hyperbolic plane must be smaller than 180°. Another visible property is exponential growth. In Circle Limit IV, for example, one can see that the number of demons within a distance of n from the center rises exponentially. The demons have equal hyperbolic area, so the area of a ball of radius n must rise exponentially in n.

There are several ways to physically realize a hyperbolic plane (or approximation thereof). A particularly well-known paper model based on the pseudosphere is due to William Thurston. The art of crochet has been used to demonstrate hyperbolic planes with the first being made by Daina Taimina.[5] In 2000, Keith Henderson demonstrated a quick-to-make paper model dubbed the "hyperbolic soccerball".

[edit] Gyrovector spaces
Main article: Gyrovector space
Gyrovector spaces are a generalization of vector spaces. Gyrovectors can be used to unify the study of Euclidean and hyperbolic geometry. Soon after special relativity was developed in 1905 it was realized that Einstein's velocity addition law could be interpreted in terms of hyperbolic geometry. The set of admissible velocities forms a hyperbolic space. In general relativistic velocity addition is non-associative. The gyrovector approach tackles the issue by introducing the concepts of gyroassociativity and gyrocommutativity. The use of the prefix gyro comes from Thomas gyration which is the mathematical abstraction of Thomas precession into an operator called a gyrator and denoted gyr.

The Bloch vector of quantum computation is not really a vector but can be seen as an example of a gyrovector and the geometry of quantum computation is really hyperbolic geometry and its algebra is the algebra of gyrovector spaces.

Different models of hyperbolic geometry are regulated by different gyrovector spaces. The Beltrami-Klein model is regulated by gyrovector spaces based on relativistic velocity addition.[6] The Poincaré ball model is regulated by gyrovector spaces based on Möbius transformations.[7]

[edit] See also

Margaret Wertheim crochet reef

A coral reef made using the formula of hyperbolic geometry which exists naturally on coral reefs and some invertebrate inhabitants. The formula as of yet can only be reproduced using knitting or crochet.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/margaret_wertheim_crochets_the_coral_reef.html

Ken Yonetani "Sweet Barrier Reef"

Ken Yonetani / Artistic overview
Ken Yonetani was born in Japan in 1971, where he studied pottery under the master Toshio Kinjo. He moved to Australia in 2003, gaining an MA from the Australian National University’s School of Art in 2005. Yonetani’s current work uses fragile and ephemeral materials as a metaphor for modern day consumerism and destruction of the natural environment.

Guto Nobrega Art, Science Technology and Nature

Breathing Hybrid Organism

This piece consists of a Living organism and an artificial system, where the creature responds to its environment through movement, light, the sounds of its own mechanics and best of all breathing. The work is the result of the investigation of plants as sensitive agents for the creation of art. " breathing is thw pre-requisite for life and is the path that links the observer to the creature." Nobrega

(based at plymouth university)

Eduardo Kac

Cypher, A DIY Transgenetic Kit

Where the viewer can insert their own DNA into bacteria making the work come to life.

"Natural History of Enigma"

Kac crossed his own DNA with petunias, where his DNA is expressed exclusively in the flowers red viens.

"Specimen of Secrecy about Marvelous Discoveries"

living pieces of art that change during the exhibition responding to internal metabolism and environmental conditions.

Art, Science and the Dying Sea

I am currently researching the transdisciplinarity of art, science and nature, fuelling my own practice on the degradation of the world’s coral reefs and immediate marine ecologies.

Transdisciplinarity was a theory first introduced by Jean Piaget in 1970, director of the International Bureau of Education, and founder of the Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva (the theory of knowledge). The term has been defined by Basarab Nicolescu, Romanian Theoretical Physicist, and founder of The International Centre for Transdisciplinary Research, through three postulates: “The existence of levels of reality, the logic included middle, and complexity. In the presence of several levels of reality the space between the disciplines and beyond disciplines is full of information” Transdisciplinarity sets out to understand the present world beyond the education of science, using a crossover of disciplines, unlike multidisciplinarity which uses separate disciplines mutually but not interactively.

I also wish to include the theories of chaos and randomness, to enhance the ideas of fragility, and the implications that slight environmental fluctuations have on the marine eco system.

In my work I aim to use science and amalgamate it with my art based practise to produce visual interpretations on symbiotic relations between marine animals, algae’s and reef ecology, encompassing the negative effects of climate change and human interference. In doing so I hope to raise awareness of the fragile state of our ocean habitats, and that the issue deserves as much attention as the melting ice caps and the destruction of rain forests.

I strongly believe that science alone cannot solve the issue of climate change, neither can art nor any other single discipline for that matter. Only using transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary practises will we be able to move forwards, and limit the damage humans have already done.

Giant salamander Article from BBC news site

It soon becomes clear that the giant salamander has hit Claude Gascon's enthusiasm button smack on the nose.

"This is a dinosaur, this is amazing," he enthuses.

"We're talking about salamanders that usually fit in the palm of your hand. This one will chop your hand off."

As a leader of Conservation International's (CI) scientific programmes, and co-chair of the Amphibian Specialist Group with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dr Gascon has seen a fair few frogs and salamanders in his life; but little, he says, to compare with this.

The skeleton of this species is almost identical to that of the fossil from 30 million years ago; therefore it's called the 'living fossil'

Dr Takeyoshi Tochimoto
Fortunately for all of our digits, this particular giant salamander is in no position to chop off anything, trapped in a tank in the visitors' centre in Maniwa City, about 800km west of Tokyo.

But impressive it certainly is: about 1.7m (5ft 6in) long, covered in a leathery skin that speaks of many decades passed, with a massive gnarled head covered in tubercles whose presumed sensitivity to motion probably helped it catch fish by the thousand over its lifetime.

If local legend is to be believed, though, this specimen is a mere tadpole compared with the biggest ever seen around Maniwa.

A 17th Century tale, related to us by cultural heritage officer Takashi Sakata, tells of a salamander (or hanzaki, in local parlance) 10m long that marauded its way across the countryside chomping cows and horses in its tracks.


The hanzaki shrine is an attempt to make up for a mythical killing
A local hero was found, one Mitsui Hikoshiro, who allowed the hanzaki to swallow him whole along with his trusty sword - which implement he then used, in the best heroic tradition, to rend the beast from stem to stern.

It proved not to be such a good move, however.

Crops failed, people started dying in mysterious ways - including Mr Hikoshiro himself.

Pretty soon the villagers drew the obvious conclusion that the salamander's spirit was wreaking revenge from beyond the grave, and must be placated. That is why Maniwa City boasts a shrine to the hanzaki.

The story illustrates the cultural importance that this remarkable creature has in some parts of Japan.

Its scientific importance, meanwhile, lies in two main areas: its "living fossil" identity, and its apparently peaceful co-existence with the chytrid fungus that has devastated so many other amphibian species from Australia to the Andes.

Close family

"The skeleton of this species is almost identical to that of the fossil from 30 million years ago," recounts Takeyoshi Tochimoto, director of the Hanzaki Institute near Hyogo.

"Therefore it's called the 'living fossil'."

The hanzaki (Andrias japonicus) only has two close living relatives: the Chinese giant salamander (A. davidianus), which is close enough in size and shape and habits that the two can easily cross-breed, and the much smaller hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) of the south-eastern US.

Creatures rather like these were certainly around when dinosaurs dominated life on land, and fossils of the family have been found much further afield than their current tight distribution - in northern Europe, certainly, where scientists presumed the the lineages had gone extinct until tales of the strange Oriental forms made their way back to the scientific burghers of Vienna and Leiden a couple of centuries ago.

"They are thought to be extremely primitive species, partly due to the fact that they are the only salamanders that have external fertilisation," says Don Church, a salamander specialist with CI.


Scientists at the Hanzaki Insitute filmed a fight between two of the giant beasts

The fertilisation ritual must be quite some sight.

Into a riverbank den that is usually occupied by the dominant male (the "den-master") swim several females, and also a few other males.

The den-master and the females release everything they have got, turning incessantly to stir the eggs and spermatozoa round in a roiling mass.

Maybe the lesser males sneak in a package or two as well; their function in the ménage-a-many is not completely clear.

They have bacteria living on their skin that produce peptides that are lethal to the amphibian chytrid fungus

Don Church, Conservation International
When the waters still, everyone but the den-master leaves; and he alone guards the nest and its juvenile brood.

It is not an ideal method of reproduction.

Research shows that genetic diversity among the hanzaki is smaller than it might be, partly as a result of the repeated polygamy, which in turn leaves them more prone to damage through environmental change.

But for the moment, it seems to work.

Outside the breeding season, the salamander's life appears to consist of remaining as inconspicuous as possible in the river (whether hiding in leaves, as the small ones do, or under the riverbanks like their larger fellows) and snapping whatever comes within reach, their usual meandering torpor transformed in an instant as the smell of a fish brushes by.

The adults' jaws are not to be treated lightly.

Among Dr Tochimoto's extensive collection of photos is one of bloodied human hands; and as he warns: "you may be attacked and injured; please be careful".


The giant Maniwa hanzaki brought gasps from experienced amphibian-watchers


When the chytrid fungus was identified just over a decade ago, indications were that Japan would be an unlikely place to look for its origins.

With the discovery of chytrid on museum specimens of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), an out-of-Africa migration spurred by human transportation of amphibians once seemed the simple likelihood.

But just last year, a team of researchers led by Koichi Goka from Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies published research showing that certain strains of chytrid were present on Japanese giant salamanders, and only on Japanese giant salamanders, including museum specimens from a century or so back; and that the relationship seemed benign.

AMPHIBIANS: A QUICK GUIDE

First true amphibians evolved about 250m years ago
There are three orders: frogs (including toads), salamanders (including newts) and caecilians, which are limbless
Adapted to many different aquatic and terrestrial habitats
Present today on every continent except Antarctica
Many undergo metamorphosis, from larvae to adults
The hanzaki-loving strains of chytrid appear to differ from those that are proving so virulent to amphibians now.

Unravelling all that, says Don Church, might tell us something about the origins and spread of chytrid - and there is so much diversity among Japanese chytrid strains that the country is now being touted as a possible origin, as diversity often implies a long evolutionary timeframe.

More importantly, the discovery might also provide options for treating the infection.

"In the case of the North American salamanders, what was found was that they have bacteria living on their skin that produce peptides that are lethal to the amphibian chytrid fungus," says Dr Church.

"And those bacteria might be able to be transplanted to other species that can't fight off the fungus."

This is a line of research that is very much in play in laboratories around the world.

It appears likely now that studies of the Japanese giant salamander can expand the number of chytrid-fighting bacteria known to science, and so extend the options for developing treatments for an infection that currently cannot be controlled in the wild.

But that can only come to pass if the giant salamanders endure; something that is not guaranteed, with the challenges they face in modern Japan including, perhaps, new strains of chytrid itself.

There is as yet no modern hero able to still the pace of habitat loss or prevent invasion from rival species.

Richard Black will examine threats to the Japanese giant salamander, and what is being done to combat those threats, in a second article

Brandon Ballengee

Brandon Ballengee works mostly with reptiles, amphibians and fish. In 1996 he started collaborating with scientists to create hybrid environmental art and ecological research projects.

Based in New York his work sees him collecting specimens and harvesting creatures with abnormal growth such as extra limbs, eyes or other mutations. The increasing number of deformities found in frogs due to environmental degradation fueled large bodies of work. specimens are recorded, injected with dyes, x-rayed and scanned to produce high resolution images which Ballengee exhibits, show casing his remarkable findings.

Another aspect of his work is involving local communities in his field studies. like Mark Dion the methodology of collection and recording becomes part of an audience participant live art work. Some of this is exhibited in terrerium like installations, as well as video and living art pieces.

Group crit images Jan 2009

Dead Reef cabinet of wonder

Tank Construction

The Age of Stupid, 2009 spanner films, director Franny Armstrong, Producer Lizzie Gillet, editor David G Hill, composer Chris Brierley, exec producer

The Age of Stupid starring Pete Postlethwaite is set in the post apocalyptic year of 2055. He is the only living human left, existing alone in a global archive containing all the worlds art works, pickled animals, films, books, and all of our scientific data. The world has been devastated by the effects of global warming and climate change, the state of which is a result of our actions today. All of this information is based on the scientific facts we have available to us currently, and is a true projection of what the earth will come to if we carry on with the life styles we are leading. The film poses the question “We could have saved ourselves, so why didn’t we?”

Using real news and documentary footage, the film follows the lives of 7 people and the events leading up to the predicted year of critical mass 2015. It shows us the characters contributions to the carbon foot print and the connections between all of them, whilst asking the viewer to reflect on their own.

The first of the individuals is an 82 year old Mont Blanc climbing guide Fernand, who has witnessed the melting of the mountains major glacier formations first hand, dropping by a staggering 150meters since 1945 to date. He says “People in the future will blame us for not thinking, we know how to profit but not to protect,” something I believe we should all think about. At this point the viewer is introduced to Piers and his family, a wind turbine engineer whom Fernand is guiding across the mountain. Piers and his family live in Cornwall England trying to live as a far as possible a self sustaining life style reducing each of their carbon emissions to 1 tonne a year as opposed to the British average of 10. He has campaigned for wind turbine sites only to fight opposition from residence, who “don’t want to spoil their view.” The process can take years and all the time put in goes against exactly what needs to be done; time doesn’t appear to be on our side. If 80% of the proposed sites went ahead without sabotage or opposition they would provide 10% of the Worlds energy!

Next the hurricane hero Alvin, a Shell Oil scientist helping the £400 a second company find new areas of oil. Alvin was a victim of hurricane Katrina the most intense weather system to hit New Orleans at the time, the severity of which was caused by higher levels of surface sea temperature. He went onto rescue over 100 local residences, who otherwise would have received no aid as forces needed for rescues were stationed in Iraq. This leads the viewer onto 2 other paths, One to Nigeria where Shell has made much of its profits, and to the war in Iraq, where the reason for American occupation is largely to do with its conquest for oil.

In Nigeria we meet Layefa, a 21 year woman old who has aspirations of becoming a doctor. She shows the viewer the extent of the exploitation caused by Shell, who promised to donate 13% of profits to the local economy. Out of the million barrels produced no money has been injected into the local economy. In Iraq Adnan and his Sister Jamila talk of their Fathers death as a result ofAmerica’s war over areas of oil. Adnan swears to kill any American he meets to avenge his father’s death.

The last of the characters is Jah, an entrepreneur who is starting an airline in India promising cheap flights (as low as 1 rupee.) He believes flying shouldn’t be an elitist activity and everyone in India should be able to afford to fly. This kind of activity can only be seen as progression, a theme the film picks up on as one of the main issues of our down fall, we always want more. Our greed for a richer life style means consumerism has dominated the world.

Postlethwaite’s character asked “why didn’t we save ourselves when we had the chance? We destroyed ourselves knowingly.” He answers with asking whether deep down as a race, were we unsure we were worth saving? The film doesn’t have the answers but certainly shows us the causes of our future demise. It’s a warning, if we don’t do something now then we are doomed, and it is certainly one of the clearest well presented, and informative warnings on climate change I have seen, and left me asking questions about my own lifestyle, what I can do, and can I enforce deeper realisation through my own practice?

Weird Science a conflation of art and science, Cranbrook Art Museum 1999, Gregory Wittkopp, Irene Hofmann, Michelle Grabner, David Wilson, ISBN:0-9668

Weird Science is a collection of essays to coincide with an exhibition of the same title at Cranbrook art museum, seeing an amalgamation of art and science. Artists include Mark Dion, Gregory Green, Margaret Honda and Andrea Zittel. The text includes an introduction to the history of the school (the Art and Science institute) and the exhibition on show. There are articles on the Artists and the work presented, along with an interview conducted by Michelle Grabner with each, and also a brief look at the coming of early science and its relation to religion.
Mark Dion presents us with “wunderkammern (cabinets of wonder)"Wittkopp Gregory pg8 Weird Science a conflation of art and science, Cranbrook Art Museum 1999 filled with various zoology and packages identifying scientific methods, collected from the Cranbrook institute, and displayed them in the manner of a natural history museum with taxonomic identification. As well as the methodology of the physical collection and identification being intrinsic to the work (earlier similar works has seen this element as performance pieces); Dion also puts historical scientific practitioners responsible for the original collection on display, questioning their earlier motives and the way in which they conducted the preservation and identifications.
Less relevant to my own practice is the work of Gregory Green, which sees him constructing bombs, missiles and nuclear devises, capable of causing large amounts of damage, each only requiring explosive compounds or relevantly little modification to make them fully functioning devices. Worryingly (and being the narrative of the work), Green was able to acquire all the needed instructions from libraries, mail order companies and the internet. Critics questioned the morality of his work, back in 1999. With the occurrence of more current events such as 911 and the threat of global terrorism, I feel Greens work has induced a new perspective.

Margret Honda displays “Terrapin Carolina Carolina” which is the living quarters of her Terrapin, and where the art work takes on the physical daily recording of the life of the creature in question, in the form of drawings which are left on the floor around the terrarium. Part of the work involves meeting the changing environmental demands of the terrapin and the construction of suitable habitats. This clinical observation is a method of interest to me, and the effects of creating an environment with a stable ecology.

Finally Andrea Zittel showcases earlier works where she aims to breed out the inter reproduction humans imposed on bantam cocks, to create ideal domestic birds. She aims to breed with a cross selection of birds thus ending up with what she believes to be a closer specimen to the true breed. Zittel has also researched into doing work with dogs and so called pedigree breeds, again a process implemented by humans. Like Green, ethical questions have been raised as the work makes use of live animals.

The exhibition as a Whole holds great interest to me, and the literature is well executed creating good sense of the exhibition even though I have not seen it firsthand. Although not directly linked to the areas of nature I am researching, the methodology described holds great relevance.

The Times, Eureka Issue 3 December 2009, Science life the planet, “The suffocating sea” pg 18-23, Frank Pope

A step away from the usual articles on global warming and the melting of the ice caps, “The suffocating sea” gives a brief yet informative insight of the effects of climate change on our marine life and coral reef eco systems, an area which I am researching. The author has written a heartfelt piece not a scientific document, but the figures presented show he has clearly done his research. The reader is given basic facts on water chemistry including the maximum tolerable levels of PH and carbon dioxide reef systems can accommodate. Pope also informs us of the reefs imminent demise, and that at current rates of pollution the enormous variety of bio-diversity will be lost forever. There is also mention of coral bleaching and the expelling of zooxanthalle (but not in depth) the symbiotic algae residing in the corals tissue, the area I am currently targeting. One of the most interesting aspects of the article is an “Ocean Manifesto” a 5 step plan to save our oceans,something I have never witnessed before. Targets include setting up ocean reserves, tackling sea pollution and implementing further controls on fishing.

In conclusion this is a well researched and written document, giving just enough information for the general reader to comprehend the state of the current situation, hopefully making the public more aware of the value of our reefs both environmentally and economically.

Burning Ice Art and Climate Change, Cape Farewell, Editors, David Buckland, Ali Mac lip, Sino Parkinson, 2006, ISBN: 0-9553109-0-3

Burning Ice is an account of the collaborative group Cape Farewell, lead by artist David Buckland, and their voyage to the high Arctic. The project aims to bring together artists, scientists, writers and musicians, in an attempt to bring the issue of global warming to public attention, using methods associated to their fields and practices.

The book includes texts, diary entries and images of the works created on the voyage, as well as a background on climate change, its effects on the polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and some basic oceanography. Artists include Antony Gormley, David Buckland, Rachel Whiteread, and Max Eastly amongst many others. This, and inputs from scientists and writers allows for a wide spectrum of work from sculpture, video, photography, sound and work which interacts with its immediate surroundings. The trip also aimed to create an experience which would be taken back with the practitioners and fuel further work.

The visual layout and information contained in the book are very good, although I’m not certain that the book fully relays the experience had by the participants of the voyage. Having met with members of the Cape Farewell team, I understand that this is one of their main aims. I believe this issue should be addressed, not only for the audience, but to justify such fuel costly excursions.

Since the release of Burning Ice, Cape Farewell has been on a number of expeditions including a major project to Peru and into the Amazon. The work that they are doing, and practitioners involved in the scheme makes them something of an authority in the cross over of art and climate change.

Christmas tree worms in porites

Lobophyllia

Galaxea

Fungia

Euphyllia Divisa

Euphyllia Ancora

Caulastrea


Acropora

montipora