Scale

Hi Everyone,

I responded to Bill's provocation with a comment back to him. I probably should have responded with a "week one" post. Here's what I wrote:

It isn't really a scientific term, exactly, but the concept of "scale" and scale shifting comes up a lot in the introductions people have made to their work. Scientists investigate phenomena using microscopes and other technologies that shift the visual/aural/tactile/time/space scale. Artists have long appropriated these investigative technologies. In our own group, just to pick a few examples, Chris's juxtaposed scales-- echogram and echocardiogram--call attention to each and invite us to consider the relationship between them. Julia's BigBoxReuse (I love this project) documents the scale shift as communities take over nationally-based, large scale buildings and turn them to local, community-based uses. The Canary Project tracks the time-scale of climate change. . . .

In my own work, I would love to be able to acquire a scientific instrument that would allow me to take very thin cross-sections of plants in order to use those in my films. I'm using much cruder kitchen and artist tools to achieve these results now. Such science lab instruments are prohibitively expensive or potentially contaminated, from what I understand. I realize I'm talking about appropriating tools rather than concepts, but this is where I am.