In this reconstruction, I will be recreating a sketch of a neuron by taking scraps of paper and ripping them in a way to replicate the shape of the sketch. I will do this by using a projector to provide an outline to follow. This image is to join the scientific process of anatomical sketching and the artistic process using materials and mediums that are found in everyday life. The final project will look like a collage of ripped sheets of paper in the shape of the neuron. In addition to this, the labels and caption will also be formed from scraps of paper. The only tools truly necessary are paper and a pencil. I am also opting to stain some pieces of the paper with coffee to offer some contrast to the myelin sheath. I am also using a projector to enlarge the image, but this could also be done at a smaller scale with a computer screen or just by eye. I think that doing it by eye would be the easiest way to replicate the effect without the projector. This is because the specific shape and number of the dendrites on the body of the cell are not particularly important as long as one keeps the same style and character. I think this would retain the character of the original image. This reconstruction can only be observed through technology in this setting. This changes it because in person you can feel and see the tears and texture of the piece much better.
- What is this image for?
- This shows the anatomy of a neuron but also allows the combination of artistic freedom with a new medium with anatomical images.
- Where is the image coming from? What do we know of its source? Its audience?
- Histología del sistema nervioso del hombre y de los vertebrados by S. Ramon Cajal
- We know that this was published in 1899. Cajal was in an argument with ont of his contemporaries about how to best portray anatomy. This book was intended for scientific use to build upon existing knowledge with new information.
Materials & measurements
- Can we identify all the materials needed to make it?
- I will use paper, coffee grounds, water, and a pencil.
- Are there multiple varieties of tools used to make it?
- The only tools used are a projector and a computer in order to provide a stencil for the final piece. However, one could also use tracing paper or even just a print out of the image and create it at a smaller scale.
- What is the stability of a material over time?
- In good conditions, paper can last hundreds of years. The tape holding the piece to the way would probably fall down after a few months.
Tools & equipment
- What tools are necessary?
- The only tools I used were a projector and computer to provide a stencil of the image on the wall.
- What are the best ways to replicate the effects of inaccessible tools?
- I would say there are two options without a projector. One would be to use tracing paper and estimate the drawing in order to make it big enough on the wall. Or, you could make a smaller version by just using the image printer out.
- How do technological changes impact our interpretation/expectation of the image? (e.g., engraving, woodcut, silver chromate)
- I think this method has probably been in use for some time. Since it is simply tearing up paper and placing it back together, technology has little effect on it.
FIELD NOTE 1 OF 3
Date: February 11th
People Involved: me
Location: hotel room
Reconstruction conditions: cold room, sitting next to large window, but late at night, can hear sirens and cars pass on the street below
Time and duration of reconstruction: 9:00 PM, about thirty minutes
Equipment and tools used: hotel postcard and pencil
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: I could smell the dinner I had eaten not too long ago. The room was cold. The breeze from the AC moved the postcard from time to time. The hotel room lights were harsh in the dark room.
Prior knowledge that you have: I have not done much drawing before, but I have looked at this image a fair amount. I know about the parts of neuron already, so I feel that I understand what the image is trying to portray. I also know that Cajal, the original artist of the sketch created this book as an addition to existing scientific knowledge. I also know he was at odds with Golgi over how to best portray biological sketches.
Reflection on your practice: I wanted to first fully understand the sketch before I moved on to my full piece. I knew I wanted to draw the sketch free-hand before attempting to use the torn paper to reconstruct the piece. I realized how convoluted this image really was once I started to sketch it. The dendrites cross over each other quote a while. I think that will be very difficult to replicate in the torn paper version, but I hope I can get the essence of it in some places. At this point, I am considering how I can get a different shade in the neuron. Some parts of the image are darker than others and I would like to portray that in my reconstruction. My focus in this reconstruction is to only use things that I have with me. I want to feel as though I am a scientist trying to very quickly portray this rather than be super prepared with materials. I would like to try staining or dying the paper with materials I have in order to create a different shade of paper.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise:
How can I most simply create another shade of paper with my existing materials?
How does this free-hand sketch help me to better understand the image?
How can I use this sketch to expand my final reconstruction?
What did Cajal think when he first saw this?
FIELD NOTE 2 OF 3
Date: February 12th
People Involved: me
Location: hotel room
Reconstruction conditions: cold room, sitting next to large window, but today it is bright, can hear sirens and cars pass on the street below, more now than last night
Time and duration of reconstruction: 2:00 pm, one hour
Equipment and tools used: In this portion, I used a coffee machine to make concentrated coffee in order to stain the index cards. Other than that, I just ripped the paper with my hands into workable sizes.
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: The smell of coffee filled the room as I ran the same coffee through the machine three or four times. The room was filled with light because now it was mid-afternoon and the shades were wide open. Today, the artificial lights were all off. I could also hear people in the other rooms moving about.
Prior knowledge that you have: I know that coffee and tea have been used historically to stain or dye paper. Other than that, I am embarking on something completely new to me.
Reflection on your practice: I brewed one cup of coffee and attempted to stain the paper with that. After leaving it sit for about five minutes, the paper was coming out mostly yellow instead of a darker shade. To try to overcome this, I put a new pod in the coffee machine and added the coffee where regular water would normally be. I did this a few times over. By the fourth time, the paper was being dyed dark enough to show a clear difference in shade. I now had a dark shade for my reconstruction. I tore many index cards in half and submerged them in cups of my four-times concentrated coffee. I allowed this to sit for about five minutes. Previously, I had left paper in for longer than this and it became too soggy to preserve and use, so I found five minutes to be the best amount of time. After five minutes, I took the pieces out and laid them in the sink to dry for a few hours. I also began to tear pages for the lighter shade. I took an MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills book and began tearing out pages I no longer need. I thought this was fitting because these passages specifically deal with themes of perception and one specifically deals with the history of making paper. I was proud of myself for coming up with this approach I have never tried. I also have found it interesting to try to replicate historical processes like dying with natural substances while still using modern materials.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise:
What was coffee and tea dying used for in the past?
What does the ripped pieces of paper coming together symbolize?
How are others recycling materials to use for art?
FIELD NOTE 3 OF 3
Date: February 12th
People Involved: me
Location: hotel room
Reconstruction conditions: cold room, now sitting away from large window, room is dark again with no light coming from the window, but a few artificial lights are on, most are off in order to let the projector be bright enough so that I can see the image
Time and duration of reconstruction: 9:00 PM, three hours
Equipment and tools used: Projector and a computer were used to display the image on the wall, and a pencil was used to trace the image. I also used the coffee-stained paper from my previous field notes. Other than that, I used my hands to rip and place the paper.
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: The room was very cold this night. The room was overall dark with very few lights. There was no smell, however the dyed paper smelt of coffee.
Prior knowledge that you have: I used to use this method to trace on poster boards for school projects. Other than that, I have never attempted something like this with the torn paper.
Reflection on your practice: This piece ended up being much more tedious than I had originally planned. In order to kind of solve this, I took some liberties is not including all of the small branches of dendrites in an exact way. I learned throughout the process to accept the imperfections of my tearing technique. Through this, I began to admire the ruggedness of the dendrites in the image through these tears. In this, I began to make my own imperfections to match the ruggedness and sudden turns of the dendrites in the image. I also became glad that I dyed the index cards with coffee. As I was adding the pieces of index cards as the myelin sheath, I noticed that the difference in shade added quite a lot to the reconstruction. I also came to appreciate the words on the paper that created the rest of the neuron. I like the words on the pages because I know that the neuron in my own brain are firing to reconstruct this image of the neuron. As I completed this reconstruction, I became very proud of the final product. I am not a very artistic person and so I am very proud of the resemblance between my reconstruction and the original image.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise:
How do the mistakes and difficulties we make in creating images affect those images?
How can we make biological drawings more tangible and more easily accessible?
BIG QUESTIONS
What kinds of larger social, historical, methodological questions can you ask from this process?
- I believe that the biggest questions that arise through this process is how do the methods in which we create images affect those images and their interpretations. For instance, how do the materials and techniques available at a certain time in history affect the portrayal of scientific findings and thus our understanding hundreds if not thousands of years later. Also, how do the biases and influences of culture affect how an artist creates an image? I now know just how many artistic liberties one can take when creating an image. How do these liberties portray the mindset and opinions of the artist?
How did your questions change over time?
- Over time, my questions moved from thinking specifically about the piece and its materials to thinking more about the creation process of the piece. I moved from thinking about how the piece is existing to more thinking about how the piece has come to exist.
Which set of readings do you draw on as inspiration to frame your potential answers?
- This article from Bold Business details how art affects societies and some of its biggest impacts. Also, the reading from class dealing with Cajal and Golgi inspires me to find answers as it opens up the art we see into the external effects on the artists while creating the art. I think that this piece is a perfect guide to how we can learn more about the history of art not just by looking at the existing art piece but also looking at the circumstances of the artists. This theses from Taylor Bowie at University of New Orleans also provides a good framework of how to answer these questions. The author details how societal pressures can influence artists and therefore their works. I think that this is a good starting point to analyze how this art can then affect societies many years later.
How do you engage with narratives about sensation, cognition, neuroscience, neurology, psychology, disability, and the emotions? How do you situate these narratives within histories of science and epistemology?
- In order to engage with these narratives, I believe you have to understand the whole picture. To do this, I try to read multiple pieces together and try to find the similar threads of thoughts throughout them. I think that this allows me to not only focus on the main points of each piece but also to find the overarching argument of a certain topic. I then try to think about my own life and how these ideas are prevalent in my own life. I try to situate these pieces within history that I already know. On top of this, if I find a portion of a piece especially peculiar for our current time period I research the time in which it was written and try to investigate what may have led the author to the conclusions made.
How do you expect to answer your questions?
- I expect to read further into the pieces I have provided three questions up. I then hope to find pieces related to these in order to broaden the scope of my research. I hope that through this successive broadening that I may find the answers to these questions. However, I think that I must confront the fact that many of the questions I have asked are dependent on an ever-changing world in which there may never truly be one answer. Despite this, I hope to find more research articles about how artists’ mental states can influence their art and therefore those that consume it. I hope to also find research into how art affects the general population.