Robert Hooke's Micrographia

In the seventeenth century, Robert Hooke, the Polymath English Natural Philosopher who has been referred to as England's Leonardo da Vinci, brilliantly opened the eyes of the world to aspects of our universe that had before been invisible. He made some of the first detailed drawings of microscopic life. He coined the term 'cell' to describer the small segments he discovered when looking at a slice of cork . An Engineer of Microscopes, he documented what he saw in his inventions by means of written descriptions and beautiful drawing. Some of these were published in 1964 in a beautiful book entitle Micrographia. His achievements in Micrographia were balanced by his discoveries in Cosmology, measuring the distances between planets and describing the rings around Saturn, amongst other marvels.

Imagined Worlds II: Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini

Luigi Sarafini published his two volume codex in 1981. His mysterious drawings and language fill the 254 pages of the two volumes. Here are a few excerpts form the codex.

Imagined Worlds: J G Ballard and Max Ernst

Max Ernst, Europe after the rain

Max Ernst, The Eye of Silence

Science, Art, Evolution and imagining life: Alexander Semenov, Ernst Haeckel and Darwin

I first saw the image bellow posted on facebook by the eminent neurologist Oliver Sacks. 

Photograph of a Sea Angle by Alexander Semenov

'What a great digital artwork,' I thought to myself, as it reminded me of characters from Japanese cartoons I’d seen; like an aquatic Pokemon. But no, it is a photograph of a living creature called a sea angel taken by Alexander Semenov. It is one of the many beautiful images he has captured of bizarre, wonderful creatures that exist below the surfaces of our seas. Semenov is a brilliant photographer as well as a marine biologist. He is just one of many scientist who delve into artistic endeavours to elucidate the marvels of his discoveries. Throughout history science and art have merged to create a bigger picture of our reality. In many circumstances, it has been by means of this merging that our fascination is drawn more deeply into the nature of life. 

The images of the Hubbell telescope, rendered in artistic detail play no small part in broadening our interest and understanding of what is beyond our planet.

In the 19th and 20th centuries Ernst Haeckel created magnificent drawings of a rarely seen diversity of life under the seas and above land are. As well as a brilliant artist Haeckel was a biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician and Darwinist. His detailed representations of living organisms are a testament to the importance of image in understanding. They, furthermore, stand alone as breathtakingly beautiful pictures to feast the eye upon. If, at the same time, we recognise that they are representations of life on our planet I, for one, am thrown into awe: they inspire me to imagination.

Drawings of microscopic life 

by Ernst Haeckel

Darwin also used drawings to illustrate his ideas. Not as an accomplished artists as Haeckel but still capable. Through his drawings the fundamental concepts of evolution become more clear. By looking at the work of Haeckel and Semenov we can see to what extent evolution is capable of reaching. 

Charles Darwin's drawing of finches, 

illustrating the evolutionary links between different types

It is becoming less and less questionable whether life exists beyond Earth. The overwhelming consensus is that it must. Still we are, seemingly,  barely aware of the extent of diversity of life we share this planet with. Still, not knowing what all exists on our own planet, we are capable of imagining life that may exist beyond; or that we may even play a hand in creating. As our societies change and technology develops, evolution may be shifting away from natural selection’s survival of the fittest to new kinds of life specialised by human inclinations. But we mustn't forget that as much as we affect nature, it will affect us.

Drawing by Timothy B Layden of imagine life 

- inspired in the work of Ernst Haeckel

Brainwashed: There is wonderful music out there: look find and be inspired

Brainwashed Radio (brainwashed.com) is an online resource of reviews, podcasts, interviews, free music and links to some of the most exciting music ever made.

 What is music?

What is the difference between music and just sound?

I am sure there are quite a few convincing answers to that question worth arguing with and I don’t wish to tarnish anyone’s point of view with my own opinions.

I know that I have eclectic tastes and like many with such tastes I am little interested in the cliché sounds of much of the mainstream music out there.

I love sound and music and the way they can work together, flowing in and out of each other.

John Cage’s 4’33’’, also know as 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence, is not silent: silence does not exist. John Cage’s piece asks us to listen. We must listen and make sound.

“There’s no new music out there”, I hear people say sometimes. Well that’s just not true. We just have to look and we can find amazing things. Musicians and listeners alike need inspiration from new experiences. The number of musicians out there playing with sound in new ways, most probably, outnumbers, to a large degree, the anodyne commercial bands that we are regularly fed through mainstream radio.

New music comes from experimentation and improvisation. Improvisation is much more than just noisy Jazz going all over the place, however wonderful that can be. Improvisation is often where truly new ideas can be discovered and played with.

The wonderful world wide web and its generous openings for sharing is a treasure trove of sources for new music. In looking to discover new inspiring music there is Spotify, Last FM and Grooveshark, which are all great resources, but one can find themselves circling around the periphery of the music they are already accustomed to. 

Subconscious Communications

I wanted to look further. In my search for more experimental music I came across Subconscious Communications. Cevin Key, who works with Skinny puppy, Download and The Tear Garden, as well as others, is one of the main forces behind Subconscious communications. The Tear Garden, I discovered, is a collaboration between members of Skinny Puppy and The Legendary Pink Dots, particularly Cevin Key and Edward Ka Spel. Of course I went back and tried these out on Last FM and Grooveshark, which gave me some interesting results but it didn’t go too far. I continued my search trying to find more from TheLegendary Pink Dots and their cohorts and discovered some great stuff: More than fifty albums of experimental music. But also through my search for more by The Legendary Pink Dots I discovered my greatest source for new, inspiring music: Brainwashed Radio.

Brainwashed Radio (brainwashed.com) is an online resource of reviews, podcasts, interviews, free music and links to some of the most exciting music ever made; this is just my opinion but I feel strongly about it. The list of musicians covered by Brainwashed is long and varied so I won’t even begin it here. Jon Whitney, who is behind Brainwashed radio along with a network of dedicated artists, is clearly very passionate about music and has given us all a great, inspiring gift: Highly recommended for everyone, go with open ears.

In the passing of Lou Reed, a few words from his long time partner Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed's Long time Partner. I saw this live in London a few years ago. In her performance, Dirt Day, Laurie Anderson, talks about the death of her dog Lolabelle and beautifully explains the connection between love and death "The purpose of death is the release of love..."
What do we do with that love we shared with someone who has passed away? 

The shape and taste of sound: the phenomena of synaesthesia

The Man who tasted shapes by Mark Lazenby

Imagine the taste of the letter R, the smell of the colour indigo or the shape of a sound. Maybe you don’t have to imagine it. Perhaps these ideas are perfectly normal for you. The shape of sounds, well yes, of course, I say. I love the shape of bass notes. They are like big, shiny, round beach stones. When bass sounds oscillate and vibrate those rounded stones spin and sometimes break apart into smaller shapes.

My friend James Wannerton tastes sounds. When his dog barks he tastes caramel and the sound of the name “Derek” tastes of Earwax.

I used to assume that everyone had a visual/tactile experienced of sound. Later I learned that this is not the case. I was shocked. I realise that sometimes people are shocked that I experience the shape of sounds. I can’t imagine how a dog bark can taste for James.

There are a lot of things that don’t have names. The names of things come about by people experiencing them and telling each other about them; occasionally something official happens and new words get published in dictionaries.

I remember the first time I heard the word synaesthesia.  I was at a party telling a friend of mine about the shapes and textures of the sounds of the music we were listening to. “That’s synaesthesia,” My friend said.

“Synae what?” I responded.

Then he explained to me that synaesthesia was when the senses combine, “If you can see music,” he told me “you are experiencing synaesthesia.”

My friend told me he had found the word in a medical dictionary.  I took his word for it but didn’t think much about it. “OK,” I thought, “synaesthesia sounds pretty normal to me then.”  I figured there were all sort of fanciful medical terms for things we think and do.

There are many different points of view regarding the causes and reasons for synaesthesia.  One of the best accounts of research into synaesthesia is a book called The Man Who Tasted Shapes by Richard E Cytowic. First published in 1993, this was perhaps the first popular account of synaesthesia making many people with synaesthesia more aware of their own experiences. One synesthete (a person with synaesthesia), who has beautifully described her own experience, is Patircia Duffy in her book entitled Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens. Organisations now exist dedicated to the further understanding of synaesthesia: e. g.  The Artecitta Foundation, The American SynesthesiaAssociation and The UK Synaesthesia Association.

Synaesthesia can tell us about the brain, the mind and consciousness. There are phenomenal people whose brains function in unique ways in combination with synaesthesia: e.g. Jason Padgett sees mathematical patterns everywhere he goes and the shapes Daniel Tammet sees for numbers, letters and concepts have helped him break the bank in a Las Vegas casino and learn Icelandic in a day.  As our science and humanity develop we may have an opportunity to self evolve and begin making decisions about what kind of animals we really want to be.

It is possible that some of the knowledge we are gaining through research into conditions such as synaesthesia will help us tap into some of the most amazing possibilities of the human brain. May we also not forget to appreciate the unexpected and inexplicable oddities of conscious awareness.