The University of Chicago's Materials Research Center will present the winning video and audiotapes of the first Sounds and Sights of Science Contest at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 13, in the library of Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th Street, on the University of Chicago campus. Following the presentation will be a panel discussion on the relationship between art and science. The public and the news media are invited to attend.
The S3 Project highlights recorded sounds and sound collages, along with films, videos and animation that were inspired by the center's work and work environment. The contest was open to University of Chicago students, faculty, staff, spouses and alumni. Twenty-seven entries were received.
"Since this was the very first time we did this project, we did not know what would come in," said contest organizer Heinrich Jaeger, Director of the Materials Research Center. "We were happily surprised about the variety of submissions that we got in response." The entries ranged from silly to serious, "but seeing it all together really opens your eyes, and that's one of the reasons why we did it," Jaeger said.
Sharing first prize in the sights category were Oliver Gaycken's "Environmental Plastic Film: A New Form of Urban Flora," and "Cornstarch," by Eric Corwin, Terry Bigioni and Matthias Mobius. Gaycken's film was a tongue-in-cheek instructional film on plastic wrap aimed at school children. "Cornstarch" is a whimsical film about a serious scientific phenomenon called "shear hardening" (it's what happens to cornstarch when you shake it).
Taking first prize in the sounds category was Elliott Brennan, for a collection of eight short pieces that were directly inspired by specific experiments conducted in the Materials Research Center. His pieces included the manipulated sounds of dripping water and crumpled paper.
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