Fusion of Art & Physics Project

Background

Dr. Stephanie Bailey of the UC Santa Cruz Physics faculty conceived this project which took place during the fall of 2018 and the Spring of 2019 in Santa Cruz, CA. 17 Local artists were carefully matched with 17 physics faculty or graduate students to work together to produce art work related to the physics research. I was matched with Dr. Hendrik Ohldag who works at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and also the UC Berkeley Cyclotron. Dr. Bailey hoped the collaboration would

• Inspire exciting art based on scientific ideas
• Foster stronger communication skills among physicists resulting from engagement with a non-specialist.
• Challenge physicists to approach their science in a slightly different way (through the visual arts)
• Integrate art and science such that they feed back and forth to each other, enriching each other
• Increase recognition of the mutual benefits of art and science

A project Website and Blog was set up for artists and physicists to document their collaborations.

Website: https://slbailey109.wixsite.com/fusion

My Blog Posts can be found here:  https://slbailey109.wixsite.com/fusion/profile/bradburkhartartist/blog-posts

Exhibit & Panel Discussion

The art produced  by these collaborations was displayed as a group exhibition that invited the public to engage with the physicists and artists at the R. Blitzer Gallery in Santa Cruz during the month of March 2019.

In mid-march a panel discussion of participating artist & physicists was held to discuss the  collaborations.