Publications / Podcasts
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Publications
Convergence: The Art Collection of the National Academy of Sciences
Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences
JD Talasek and Alana Quinn, editors
Since 1924, when its landmark building opened on the National Mall in Washington, the National Academy of Sciences has exhibited work at the intersection of art and science. Convergence: The Art Collection of the National Academy of Sciences is the first publication to present the Academy’s historic and prescient holdings. No other force has had greater impact on contemporary culture than advancements in science and technology, providing rich terrain for artists to explore and investigate. The Academy’s growing collection encompasses painting, prints, sculpture, photography, and architecture (in the form of its newly restored historic building). A significant selection of that collection is presented for the first time in Convergence, which includes essays by such art and science thought-leaders as E.O. Wilson, Roald Hoffmann, Anne Collins Goodyear, Andrew Solomon, and Lucy Lippard, which help to connect the dots between these emerging and increasingly influential intersections of culture and science.
Convergence II: The Art Collection of the National Academy of Sciences (2021)
Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences
JD Talasek and Alana Quinn, editors
Science relies on the rational. Art celebrates the intuitive. Together they inform one another. The second volume catalog of the art collection of the National Academy of Sciences illustrates by example how Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences' art exhibits and collection provide a platform for thinking about the impact of science on our society. Through a cultural and personal lens, the topics found in the collection range from diversity and equity to climate change and collaboration. This catalog contains beautiful reproductions of more than 30 original artworks from the National Academy of Sciences collection, including such artists as Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Mike and Doug Starn, Tavares Strachen, Neri Oxman, Camille Seaman, Diane Burko, Renée Stout, Alfredo Arreguín, Jeffrey Kent, David Maisel, and many more. Essays from leading scholars and curators are included that illuminate the work.
Analyzing Art and Aesthetics (Artefacts: Studies in the History of Science and Technology)
Edited by Anne Collins Goodyear and Margaret A. Weitekamp
Contribution: “Art in the Science Context” by JD Talasek
This ninth volume of the Artefacts series explores how artists have responded to developments in science and technology, past and present. Rather than limiting the discussion to art alone, editors Anne Collins Goodyear and Margaret Weitekamp also asked contributors to consider aesthetics: the scholarly consideration of sensory responses to cultural objects. When considered as aesthetic objects, how do scientific instruments or technological innovations reflect and embody culturally grounded assessments about appearance, feel, and use? And when these objects become museum artifacts, what aesthetic factors affect their exhibition? Contributors found answers in the material objects themselves. This volume reconsiders how science, technology, art, and aesthetics impact one another.
Visual Culture and Bioscience
Edited by Suzanne Anker and JD Talasek
In 2007, way before the pandemic familiarized us with the usefulness of online gatherings, we hosted an online symposium on art and bioscience. The transcript was edited and published in this book by DAP.
Visual artist and theorist Suzanne Anker opened the 2007 international online conference Bioscience and Visual Culture with the following words: "The ubiquitous employment of digital technologies within the practices of research science and medicine, architecture and design, filmmaking and video production, as well as the visual and performing arts, has set ajar a multiplex of communication networks which crisscross traditional boundaries." This volume documents the virtual symposium, which was hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. and the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Herein, artists, scientists, historians, ethicists, curators, sociologists and writers discuss the myriad intersections between visual culture and the biosciences. The impressive list of international panelists includes Carl Djerassi of Stanford University, Troy Duster of NYU, Marvin Heiferman of SVA, David Freedberg of Columbia University, artist Catherine Chalmers, Art in America Senior Editor Nancy Princenthal and writer Andrew Solomon.
The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education
Branches from the Same Tree (2018)
JD Talasek, staff advisor
The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education examines the evidence behind the assertion that educational programs that mutually integrate learning experiences in the humanities and arts with science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) lead to improved educational and career outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students. It explores evidence regarding the value of integrating more STEMM curricula and labs into the academic programs of students majoring in the humanities and arts and evidence regarding the value of integrating curricula and experiences in the arts and humanities into college and university STEMM education programs.
Contributor(s): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Policy and Global Affairs; Board on Higher Education and Workforce; Committee on Integrating Higher Education in the Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; David Skorton and Ashley Bear, Editors
Podcasts
The Ongoing Transformation
I have had the pleasure of moderating a number of podcasts for the series The Ongoing Tranformation created by Issues in Science and Technology (www.issues.org). For the Issues podcast, we talk with fascinating people to get a behind-the-scenes look at how their research and ideas are transforming our world.
Collaborations on Ice
(Ongong Transformation Podcast #24)
Over the course of a four-year project, a group of artists and scientists integrated field data, remote satellite imagery, scientific analysis, and art to create visual representations of disappearing Arctic ice. Being deeply embedded in each other’s processes helped the group foster new ideas and unexpected outcomes. Cy Keener and Ignatius Rigor discuss how to build successful collaborations across different disciplines and how creative practices can contribute to scientific research and communication.
Fruitful Communities
(Ongong Transformation Podcast #17)
How can art and advances in agricultural science create new food resources, connect communities, and create more resilient food systems? J. D. Talasek is joined by artists David Allen Burns and Austin Young of Fallen Fruit and professor Molly Jahn to explore how creativity and systems thinking can change the food system.
Fighting COVID With Art
(Ongong Transformation Podcast #8)
Because art is a powerful tool for connecting with communities, building stronger relationships between artists and public health programs may be a way to increase people’s confidence about vaccines. On this episode, cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz and Jill Sonke, director of the Center for Art in Medicine at the University of Florida, join us to explore what role artists and culture bearers can play in discussions of vaccine confidence.
Chasing Connections in Climate Action
(Ongong Transformation Podcast #12)
We talk to photographer James Balog and climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe about how their work creates connections across different ways of knowing, such as art, science, or religion. How can religious and artistic practices—along with a better understanding of influences such as personal geographies and socioeconomic backgrounds—inform meaningful ways to confront climate change?
