Untitled (Glow) I, 2011

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Untitled (Glow I)

Sanded gesso on board, redwood, fluorescent acrylic

This piece was created in response to the use of light in biomedical research as carried out at the University/BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science. The integration of optical techniques with molecular strategies has enabled researchers to analyse how single molecules behave within intact cells. Light, colour, fluorescence and luminescence are used to make the invisible visible, to reveal and illuminate.

Untitled (Glow I) consists of four white sculptural panels that are punctuated by a subtle coloured glow. Each colour has been developed to resemble a sample from Roger Tsien’s fluorescent protein palette. Tsien’s multicolored proteins are used to track when and where certain genes are expressed in cells by causing the protein of interest to glow inside the cell. The piece also refers to the various technologies and techniques that expand the use of light as a tool in biomedical research, and where spectral separation is at the core. In fluorescence microscopy, it is essential to separate light with different spectral properties for the excitation of a fluorophore and the detection of its emission. The four panels translate this process of spectral separation and allude to the excitation and emission wavelength spectrum.

The illusory glow effect is further meant to provide subtle visual ambiguities, creating a dichotomy between the way an object initially appears to how it actually exists, and how this relates to scientific objectivity and the subjective nature of our perception.

Chandra Casali-Bell

British Heart Foundation CoRE Artist-in-Residence, 2011