Visualization of scientific image data as art data

This chapter maps how art created from scientific image data from different imaging laboratories can help and influence how it can be visually communicated.

This is an opportunity to present new insights into the application, use and analysis of advanced imaging technology and data, working closely with imaging specialists and scientists to create new visual depictions.

From September 2015 work began with three different laboratories to gain first-hand experience of working with research scientists using advanced imaging as an important visual tool in their scientific investigations. As technologies become more sophisticated, ways of viewing and seeing samples (static and live) are continually being developed. The super-high-resolution machines that scientists use today to image samples are not normally accessible to non-scientific specialists yet imaging technologies present a rich, under-explored area for artistic exploration.

The research is centred on three case studies. All scientific collaborators see this exchange as an opportunity to generate interest and understanding about their research among expert and non-specialist audiences. They recognise that their working methods can appear extremely opaque to the public and difficult for the public to understand, but believe that key concepts can be communicated to audiences from a different perspective. They acknowledge that scientific images are increasingly travelling outside laboratories and entering news magazines, courtrooms and media.

They have identified the author with her skills, knowledge and experience as artist/designer as an ideal candidate to share their findings in an art-science collaboration as an opportunity to generate impact outside a scientific context. This research project is designed to offer new understanding in the topic of data visualisation through the lens of an artist working as an equal with the scientists involved.