DIALOGUE
Functional Art and Water Science
By West Marrin
Guest Contributor
Recent interest in scienceart collaborations seems to have
focused on how artists can benefit
from technological advancements
in creating their works and how
scientists can use the graphic arts to
more effectively display their data.
But interactions between science
and art can extend beyond these
established exchanges through
functional art. Historically, functional
art has referred to useful creations
such as furniture, dishes, and lighting
fixtures. More recently, functional
art has appeared in the digital realm
as infographics, visualizations, and
interactive displays.
The physical, chemical, biological,
architectural, musical, and artistic
worlds are replete with examples
incorporating identifiable patterns,
rhythms, networks, and fractal-like
relationships. In the field of water
science, specifically, there is a fertile
ground for physical and digital art to
serve a functional role in researching,
understanding, and providing
practical design.
Ocean Plastics: Artist Pamela Longobardi has
documented and cleaned up plastic wastes on
coastlines throughout the world. Her “Drifters
Project” focuses on global-scale patterns created
by the oceanic transport and deposition of plastics
along the world’s beaches. One facet of her art
involves the use of selected plastic wastes to
produce installations and exhibits that symbolically
focus viewers’ attention on the destructive usage
and disposal of plastics. Possessing a scientific
background, she approaches each site as a forensic
researcher in distinguishing variations in the type
and distribution of plastic materials that reflect
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From “Drifters Project” by Pamela Longobardi.
Image courtesy the artist.
their transport dynamics and pathways. The
patterns of beach deposition can assist scientists,
but are still unknown for many coastal areas.
Marine Habitat: Artist Mara Haseltine has
created artificial reefs and other underwater
habitats based on the geometry, patterning, and
functionality of natural reefs in order to facilitate
the reintroduction of marine organisms. In addition
to structure, she has experimented with various
materials (e.g., glass, metal, porcelain) in selecting
the optimal substrates for the colonization of
marine organisms. Particularly interesting is her use
SciArt in America June 2014