Meet Tristan Perich – Behind the Scenes with Science & Art

At the Arkansas Discover Network’s Science & Art exhibit, visitors can see, hear and interact with works of art that illustrate how science and art intersect in real life. As you make your way through the exhibit, you’ll be encouraged to listen to your inner scientist and indulge your inner artist. You will also meet scientists/artists who use both in their work.

I’ve always had a love for music, from classic rock to alternative to pop, so when I heard Tristan Perich was going to be a part of our Science & Art exhibit, I was pretty intrigued. I didn’t much think about the science of music before, but it is just another example of how most of us don’t realize that science isn’t just sitting at a desk listening to a lecture and occasionally dissecting a small animal.

I think you will be just as intrigued as I was with Tristan’s One-bit music and musical compositions.

Tristan keeps himself very busy as an artist, inventor, composer and performer. He began formally composing at age 10 and is now an active performer of his own compositions. Perich’s 1-Bit music combines his musical compositions with primitive, hand-programmed electronics that investigate the foundations of digital sound. He has integrated 1-bit elements into his compositions for solo instruments, small ensemble and orchestra.

Perich’s machine drawings — pen on paper or wall drawings executed by a custom-built machine — use randomness and order as raw materials within a composition. Perich studied music, math and computer science at Columbia University and Interactive Telecommunications at Tisch School for the Arts.

“My art and my music are about simple forms and complex systems — the intersection of randomness, order and composition. I am inspired by the aesthetics of math and physics.”
—Tristan Perich

People of all ages enjoy listening to and learning about One-Bit Music.

Visitors to the Science & Art exhibit will see the creation Perich calls 1-Bit music — eleven 1-bit compositions delivered to the listener via on/off switch, micro-chip, battery, earphone jack and volume control all squeezed into a plastic CD case. Labels describe the function of each component while other graphics — including photos and quotes — explore the artistic vision and process behind the work.

Physics, math and computer science form the basis of Tristan Perich’s exploration of electronic sound. According to Perich, mathematician Kurt Gödel had a big influence on his interest in the fundamentals of math and science. At a time when theorists thought that mathematics had the power to formalize and prove any true statement, Gödel revolutionarily showed that any formal theory will always be limited — that there will always be true statements that are outside the reach of logic. Since computers by definition also embody formal systems, this inspires how he works with them.

Perich grew up surrounded by art and music — his mother and grandmother each ran art galleries, and his father has been using machines to create art since the ’70s. He learned the piano in elementary school and, began composing from the beginning.

More information on Tristan Perich and the Science & Art exhibit

Science & Art can be seen at our Network partners, Mid-America Science Museum, from January 29 until April 4, when it travels to University of Arkansas Discovery Zone in Fayetteville from April 8 until June 26.

This week I became a part of the good old fashioned American democratic process

This week I became a part of the good old-fashioned American democratic process when I flew to Washington D.C. to participate in Museum Advocacy Day, hosted by the American Association of Museums (AAM). It was exhilarating! Representatives from museums from all across the country descended on the Capitol to advocate for funding for museums. We spent all day Monday, February 28, learning about the issues and the finer points of talking to our legislators. I learned we were to specifically ask each of our elected officials to support funding for the Office of Museum Services at the current level of $35 million. This office awards grants to museums through a competitive grant application process. President Obama’s budget proposed to cut this amount by more than 8% to $32 million.

Susan Hildreth, from IMLS, talks about the value of museums

The next day we had breakfast in one of the “house” buildings and listened to inspirational speeches from Dennis Kucinich, Kirsten Gillibrand, Paul Tonko and other legislators who believe in and support museums. After that we all set out to meet with our congressmen and senators from our respective states.

Capitol Building, Museum Advocacy Day

My first meeting was at 10:00 with Rep. Tim Griffin. I arrived at his office 20 minutes early, so to kill time, I just wandered the halls. Luckily, I didn’t arouse any suspicion walking aimlessly through the building. As you can imagine, security is pretty tight there! And I’ll admit, I was a little nervous, so it helped just to have some time to collect myself.

When it was 10:00 I went to Rep. Griffin’s office only to find that he was in a hearing where Hillary Clinton was talking to a committee about all the recent unrest in Africa. I was to have a “pop-out” meeting with Tim outside the hearing room. So a very nice young staff assistant named Patrick walked me downstairs, through an underground tunnel and into an adjacent building where we would find Rep. Griffin. As we walked I learned Patrick had just graduated from college and began working for the congressman three weeks before. Patrick is from Virginia and loves duck hunting and can’t wait for a staff retreat to Arkansas so he can experience duck hunting here.

Sherry Franques, from the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, got to meet a cardboard Barack Obama!

After running to keep up with young Patrick in my heels for what seemed like hours, we stopped in a large hall where about a hundred people were also wandering about aimlessly (maybe they were early, too) and Tim appeared out of one of the doors. I had a very nice conversation with him, telling him about the important role museums can and do play in education. Rep Griffin replied that I didn’t have to sell him on museums. His mother had been a teacher and had taken him to countless museums during his childhood summers. He was very supportive and we parted after sharing contact information.

My next two meetings were late in the afternoon so I was able to spend some time exploring the Capitol building, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, which I have to say is THE most stunningly beautiful building I have ever seen. By 4:00 I met with Senator Mark Pryor’s aide, along with 4 other museum representatives from Arkansas. Right after that, we met with Senator John Boozman. Both were very supportive of museums and said that, even in this tight budget year, they would do what they could to support us.

While in D.C., we were able to visit the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art.

It was such a thrill to go to Washington and meet with all three gentlemen and be a part of the process!

To learn more about the issues and to support your museums go to www.speakupformuseums.org

A siren’s call so irresistible, I just had to blog

I have, for some weeks now, heard a gentle siren’s call. It whispers in my ear, “If you write it, they will read it.” It beckons me to my computer with a sound, not unlike… well, whining. And the strange part is that it sounds a lot like Linda Meyers.

So, here you are Linda, I’m trying to write a blog.

When you start writing, it’s a good idea to start out with an outline. Mine looks like this…

1. Blog
2. Introductory joke
3. Serious statement
4. Ummmm…

Joel and company moving Backyard Science to the delivery truck.

As you can see, I haven’t gotten far. But I want to write a blog. Because I want everyone to know how cool it is to work in a museum.  Because working in a museum is awesome! I am surrounded on a daily basis by beautiful and fascinating things. I get to talk to people all day long that are so smart…”How smart are they?” They are so smart, that they work in a museum!

We all do really important and wonderful work. We create the exhibits that inspire future generations to become statesmen, scientists, doctors and most importantly, teachers. Speaking of teachers, we teach the classes that motivate children to go home and tell their moms and dads and whoever else will listen, “Hey! Guess what I learned at (insert your museum’s name here) today! I think that may have been a run-on sentence. If I had an English teacher here they could tell me!

There are people, who work in a museum, whose job is to tell everyone how great a museum is. “I’m just doing it as a hobby, I’m not a professional.”  They “develop” the means to help a museum grow and prosper so that it can fulfill its mission.

We have folks who coordinate all the visitors. Schools on field trips, children’s homes and hospitals, some museums even “reach out” to the public by sending teachers and exhibits beyond the walls of the museum itself. There are even museums on wheels! Wow! There are even “Museums Without Walls.” Don’t believe me? Look it up.

Not only can Joel keep the museum running, he decorates a mean mini-cake too!

We have meeters and greeters and edu-tainers. Some museums are like a three ring circus of education! Some museums are, literally, circus museums! How cool is that!? There are even groups of museums that work together to coordinate events and activities across regions and states.

We have people who run different departments in a museum. We even have people who take on the responsibility of running the whole enchilada! “Enchilada, in this case, is a metaphor, I mean, of course museum.” “Although… I am sure there are people whose job is to actually run the enchiladas.” Because some museums serve enchiladas…  I digress.

Some of the most important people working in a museum aren’t employed by the museum. Is that a riddle? No, they’re called volunteers! Volunteers can be girls and boys of any age, that’s right YOU can be a volunteer! All you need to be is excited about your museum! And it is YOUR museum, by the way. Because museums are there for you! So, volunteer! It’s the right thing to do! Do your part! Make a difference! Change the world! “No pressure…”

Some folks can’t give their time so they give us funding instead. These people are usually successful, intelligent, insightful, beautiful/ handsome pillars of the community. In other words, folks like you and me. That’s right, I donate to my museum and you can too! YOU can donate money and materials and make it possible for museums to carry on with their important missions. This funding helps to create programs for education. It gives us capital to expand and grow or just to fix things that need to be repaired, renewed or updated. Your donation can help to build a new museum from the ground up!

I come to work every day and know that I am doing something great. I get to spend the day in a museum!  I get to teach kids, I get to be a kid! I meet new people and they tell me all the things they love about  THEIR MUSEUM! If you haven’t visited your museum lately, I suggest you do. Because, you are missing out.

Yeah! Working in a museum is so awesome!

Anyway… Sorry I couldn’t come up with something to blog about. But when I do, it will be really cool and have awesome hyperlinks and stuff like that.

I guess Linda will just have to keep nagging me until I do it. Oh well, maybe next week.

Chemistry… A (scientific) method to my madness!

Hi loyal minions! As you may have noticed I am writing to you on Wednesday and not on my normal Friday time slot. This is all part of my plan for World and Universe domination. Start with the days and go from there. Also, I just couldn’t wait to say hi! I’m glad you all liked my cousin, Clotilda BeGood, and her blog last week! While we may have different views on  things she is still family and therefore I will allow her to come back and share her own experiences, as well as other cool engineering careers!

Dr. NoGood's Far Out Follicle Treatment for Cosmically Cranky Hair!

Today, I thought I’d talk a little bit about Chemistry. You may be performing Chemical experiments everyday and not even know it! Do you like mixing things up and seeing what you get? That’s how my hair gel came to be. I took off one day on my quest to take over the universe, and I was in my lab mixing some ingredients in my laboratory, conducting different experiments and WaaLaa! Dr. NoGood’s Far Out Follicle Treatment for Cosmically Cranky Hair was born. Now since I am a genius scientist I used something called the Scientific Method. While all you minions may accidentally be experimenting with Chemistry every day I am much more advanced and do things with a plan!

It’s very important before you do any experiment that you know the Scientific Method. Do you know the steps?

1. State the Problem: What do you want to find out? What is the goal of the experiment? Look at your problem and express it as a question. Be sure to make the problem as specific as possible.
2. Hypothesize: What do you think is the cause of your problem? Develop a logical answer to your problem; this will become your hypothesis. Your answer should include one explanation for the cause to your problem.
3. Plan Your Experiment: The goal of any experiment is to test a hypothesis. Determine your variable and control; then write a clear step-by-step procedure so that anyone can repeat the process of the experiment. Being able to repeat the experiment is key.
4. Make a Prediction: Using your hypothesis, make and record a prediction about the outcome of your experiment.
5. Gather and Organize Data: Determine what kinds of data you will collect. Will it be measurements, observations, or estimates? Will you use tables, graphs, or drawings to organize this data?
6. Analyze Data: Once you have collected your data, determine if you see any trends or patterns. Does the data support your hypothesis? Do you still need to collect additional information.
7. Conclude: Use your data to state your conclusion. Your data should either support your conclusion or lead you to another hypothesis. Have any new questions or problems developed?

(Info on the Scientific Method from http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/23011.aspx)

Here is a video that mixes two of my favorite things… science and grooovy music. It will help you remember the steps in the Scientific Method!

Now that you know the Scientific Method, you can see that making hair gel isn’t as easy as it may seem. And even when you use the Scientific Method, you can come up with unexpected surprises. So you must always be safe! Next time, I’ll tell you about some of my unexpected surprises so you can learn from my… errr… experience!

Have you ever wanted to make a cloud? With Cloud Rings, you can!

One of the most popular exhibits at the Museum of Discovery is Arkansas Discovery Network’s Cloud Rings. It is a lot of fun to see how high your cloud can go, and equally fun for me to see kids, adults, whomever, working together to make the rings. As a photographer, the Cloud Rings is one of my favorite photo opps in the museum. I have stood at the top of the stairs many many times, looking down on the exhibit, trying time after time to get the perfect shot.

This very popular exhibit teaches visitors (unknowingly!) about whirlpools, smoke rings, and hurricanes, all vortices (plural for vortex).

How does it work? You push down on the metal plate to force a stream of fog through the hole in the center. Friction between the plate’s edge and the fog flowing through the hole creates a swirling pattern known as a vortex. This exhibit uses a mist generator and a large rubber membrane with a hole in the middle to launch a ring of vapor up as far as the ceiling will allow.

Ask these questions as you are watching the exhibit:

Why does the cloud ring stay together so long after leaving the chamber? Why does it finally fall apart?

How is the cloud ring similar to the dust swirls created when a car travels on a dusty road?

What conditions are best for seeing cloud rings — warm air entering a pocket of cool air or cool air entering a pocket of warm air?

Why can you see your breath on a cool morning but not on a warm day?

The density difference between the surrounding air and the cloud itself helps hold the cloud ring together. Since cool air is more dense, it is easier to see clouds as the warm wet air meets the cool dry air.

A vortex (what you see raising up to the ceiling in this exhibit) is a mass of liquid or gas with a whirling, circular motion. Whirlpools, smoke rings, and hurricanes are all vortices (plural for vortex). They can take different shapes, depending on what they’re made of and the forces that create them.

Mount Etna, an active volcano in Italy, makes enormous smoke rings 650 feet in diameter that can last up to 10 minutes. Smoke rings are formed around a volcano by the local upward convection of air that is caused by the eruptive column. When a volcano explodes, there is a strong updraft all around the volcano that draws in air. If this air is humid, it will form a smoke ring around the volcano. Take a look at this video of Mount Etna’s could rings; I’ve never seen anything like it and watched in awe.

Learn a little bit about cloud formation and simulate one for yourself with this at-home activity! (With parent supervision, of course!)

Materials:

• Dry baby powder
• Balloon
• Solid plastic tub (butter tub, yogurt container)
• Rubber bands or strong tape
• Sharp scissors

Please follow safety precautions. Avoid breathing the powder. Be careful with sharp objects.

Carefully cut a dime-sized hole in the center of the bottom of the tub, making sure the edges are smooth. Open the balloon and stretch it across the top of the tub. Secure it in place with rubber bands or tape so that no air escapes around the edges. Gently shake a small amount of the powder into the tub so that it lines the inside surface of the balloon. Hold the container balloon-side downward. Pinch the center of the balloon and pull downward. Quickly release the balloon to produce a small cloud of powder coming from the hole in the container. (Sometimes a quick snap upward on the balloon produces the desired result.) Observe the direction and speed of the cloud. How is it different than the surrounding air? What gives the cloud its force?

(This activity can be done using dry ice instead of powder to produce the cloud, but it is not recommended with small children.)

Thanks for the Thanks!

Derrick and I (Thomas) have many different kinds of tasks while on and off the road that keep The Race for Planet X mobile museum functioning. We have to deal with the logistics of scheduling, maintaining the truck, and keeping the exhibits working to name a few. With the multiple elements we have to keep up with, we sometimes lose perspective on the impact the truck has on the thousands of kids we visit.

Thank you cards like this help us appreciate the impact we're having across the state!

The sixth grade class at Hazen Elementary went through the mobile museum earlier this school semester and decided to take the time and effort to show us how much our visit meant to them. Not only did we get a traditional thank you card from the teacher, but we also received dozens of personally designed and created thank you cards from the students.

Originality and creativeness was truly inspiring and these kids would put me to shame in an art contest. We really enjoyed looking through them all and seeing what the students had to say about their experience.

To see our album of Thank You cards, click one of the images!

Many of them wrote about their favorite exhibits. The gesture of thanks from the sixth grade at Hazen Elementary helps Derrick and myself keep perspective on what we do and the unique experience we provide to kids throughout Arkansas. Now if this frigid weather would just clear up we could get back out there!

Take a look at some more very creative, very fun Thank You cards from past explorers!

Women Who Engineer History

Hi everyone! I’m Clotilda BeGood,  Cornelius’ cousin. This week is National Engineering Week so the folks at the Arkansas Discovery Network asked me to introduce some exemplary women in the world of engineering.

First I thought I’d explain a bit about what engineering is. It is such an incredibly broad field and involves taking concepts from math and science to create things – anything from a new package for your gum to wind turbines. Engineering is a huge field, encompassing a wide range of industries. You may not even realize an engineer has been to work, because most of their work is behind the scenes.

Buechley's shirt lights up!

Some very interesting women have made a career out of engineering. One of them, Leah Buechley, is featured in the Network’s exhibit, Science & Art. She blends her knowledge of electronics, programming and sewing to engineer e-textiles that blink, flash and buzz. (check out her shirt with blinking lights!) You can learn more about Leah Buechley next week in a “Meet the Artists” blog post, or at http://hlt.media.mit.edu/:.

Next up is Yvonne Brill. She is an Aerospace Consultant (how cool would that be?!). She began her career in 1945, as a rocket propellant chemist on a project to design and launch an unmanned, Earth-orbiting satellite. Later, she developed the concept for a new rocket engine — an electrothermal hydrazine thruster. She was the only woman of technology at the time working in rocket propulsion systems. She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s in chemistry, so if you enjoy either of those subjects, and are intrigued with space travel, you may be able to follow in her footsteps. Watch this video and hear Brill’s overview of part of her unique and fascinating career.

 

Heidi Koschwanez, Biomedical Engineer

Biomedical Engineer Heidi Koschwanez designs experiments to solve a real-life medical problem – how to prevent the body from rejecting glucose sensors so they can last in the body longer than a few days. Glucose sensors are little machines that figure out how much sugar (also called glucose) is in your blood.  People with diabetes need to check what their blood sugar is often (3-4 times a day) so they don’t get sick.  These little sensors help make checking their blood sugar easy. Find out more about her and other great women engineers at www.engineeringgirl.org!I hope you enjoy reading about these and other women in engineering. I’ll come back again to talk to you more about me and what great fun engineering can be.