Photography by Anita Maguire

It has taken me or a week or so, to really absorb the events that happened last week on the 17th April for the reopening ceremony of the Kathleen Lonsdale Building (KLB) at UCL.

I was invited to attend the morning ceremony and asked to talk to guests and to Sir David Attenborough about the artsci-work ‘COSMOPARTICLE’ when they were on a grand tour of the building. I had been commissioned for the artsci-work by the UCL Cosmoparticle Initiative for the beautifully transformed KLB building in early 2017.  The building is home to UCL Earth Sciences and groups from Chemistry, Astrophysics, and Mathematics.

 Early Morning April 17th 2018-

The journey began with the 5.55am train from Cardiff Central to Euston Square.

I arrived at Paddington Station a little after 8.30am and caught the underground to Euston Square. Hot and cramped passengers swayed together on the very busy tube. An elderly gentleman, shaking with nerves was attempting get through the carriage to leave, the doors were closing quickly everyone took note and someone called out to hold the door. Three people jumped in to action and held with some effort, the half closing doors and the man was able to safely get off. One the guys who held the door open, was standing next to me had oil and grease all over his hand. My contribution was a handwipe that cleaned it right off, much to the guy’s relief. It was really lovely to see everyone immediately working together and feeling that London has a sense of the kindness, the vibe after was sweet and set the tone for the day.
 
I ended up at Euston Road instead of Euston Square. Which was a short walk from where I was meeting Anita Maguire at the George Farha café in the Lewis Building (which is next to Euston Square Station where I thought I was heading).  Anita is Executive Assistant to Professor of Astrophysics, Hiranya Peiris. It was, Peiris who had initially contacted me after seeing ‘Infinite LIGO Dreams’. Anita and I grabbed some coffee and made away across the road to theCruciform building.

We had been informed there would be ques for the event and we found ourselves at the door to a corridor that led to the theatre entrance, at the end of the rather long que, everyone buzzing with excitement.

After a few moments we flowed in and took our seats, myself and Anita placed ourselves one row back and to the right and awaited the arrival of all the guests and the much-anticipated Sir David Attenborough.

 
Photographer Kirsten Holst www.kirstenholst.com

The hubbub and babel of the theatre came to a murmur as Sir David Attenborough and guests including the Son and Grandson of much celebrated Dame Kathleen Lonsdale entered the room. Perfectly hosted by Professor Lars Stixrude (Head of UCL Earth Sciences) and Professor Ivan Parkin (Dean of UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences) who introduced us all to the morning ceremony’s programme and our reason for gathering to celebrate the new building fabulously redesigned by Levitt Bernstien and built by John Graham Construction for the re-opening by the esteemed Sir David Attenborough who was waiting in the wings ready to join Professor Lucie Green.

An arm-chair style discussion followed with Sir David Attenborough facilitated by the lovely Professor Lucie Green from UCL Space & Climate Physics. Sir David was energetic and at same time relaxed, quick witted and funny, answering questions posed by about his career and his connection to Dame Kathleen Lonsdale. 

 Photographer Kirsten Holst www.kirstenholst.com

During the talk, Sir David was presented with a porcelain sculpture of the plankton created exclusively by University of Southampton researcher by Dr Samantha Gibbs, of the newly discovered species of ocean plankton named Syracosphaera azureaplaneta, in honour of the BBC’s Blue Planet series.

He accepted the sculpture, stood up and held it up in one hand, high in from of us all and I recall he said ‘and here in lies a great mystery’, it was a beautiful moment. He continued to explain that It is the depth and breadth at which all life is interconnected that precedes this ‘great mystery’. From the tiny plankton we may as well say all life on earth depends and therein lies its great importance of study. Words to remember and ponder!

There is one question that for me stood out and the answer to which has enriched my sense of wellbeing and optimism for the future, I feel I am not alone in this sentiment as I heard it again talked about in the afternoons events.

 The question was something along the lines of- ‘What are your thoughts for the future of the Earth and everything that lives on it?’

It felt as if there was a hesitance in the voice of the audience member, perhaps a little anxiety too, I believe we all felt that feeling a little, we all know how much we humans have messed up Earth and the problems we have caused as a species. Sir David Attenborough replied with sincerity and compassion (from my recollection it was along the lines of);

-Had you asked me 10 years ago I would have had a very different answer to the one I am telling you now. I would have been more sceptical. But now I have seen a change; When Australians noticed the hole in the ozone over their heads, a change commenced and since 1996 CFC’s have been banned. When whales diminished to the point of extinction, commercial whaling was banned in 1987. When I first started presenting, the oceans did not have many whales left, but now I see massive shoals, it is a change I have seen in my lifetime.  Now we have plastics and the burning of fossil fuels to deal with, it is heart-breaking, however with; innovation, research, science and technology along with our ability to be curious, connect and communicate on a worldwide instantaneous level I feel that change again will happen. We are at a tipping point and the world of humans is now able to begin correcting the mistakes it has made. –

If you were there you would have felt a sense of urgency and relief, the feeling that all is not lost and everyone individually and as a civilisation is capable of change. Sir David really does fill one with real hope.
 
For example, with regards to plastics; It is s a problem that caught the imagination of a Boyan Slat when he was a 16-year-old schoolboy from the Netherlands. I highly recommend finding out all about him.
                                                                                                      Photographer Kirsten Holst www.kirstenholst.com
        

Here is a link to a video, he is 23 now (and adorable) what he has done is incredible #plasticfree- It just goes to show if you have innovation and passion each individual is capable of change.

The morning ceremony came to end, the audience applauded for a long time before settling down and calmly making their way to lunch. The afternoon followed with three tours of all the special guests.

I had to be ready by 2.30pm to give my first talk in the Cosmoparticle Hub in front of the artsci-work, I was really frilled to be asked, I absolutely love having the chance to discuss the science that goes into the work and how it has come together, I was nervous too, I wanted to get it right for Hiranya Peiris, Andrew Pontzen and Chamkuar Ghag who had provided me with all the data. Here is a video showing, visually the development of the COSMOPARTICLE over a 5 months.

 Photograph by Kristen Holst

Sir David Attenborough is pointing at the Xenon atom and asking what it is…

I explained as best I could, with a little help from the Dean Professor Ivan Parkin and encouraging looks from Hiranya and Andrew.

Find out more about Xenon and why it may help us find Dark Matter, click here.

Here is a photo by Anita Maguire of the Hiranya, Andrew and I all together->

It occurred to me that Sir David may well have been pointing it out the atom because in many ways it looks organic, frogs spawn came to mind, at the time.

 However, in hindsight, Sir David may have thought it looked a little like Blue Planet plankton created by Dr Samantha Gibbs.  I should have asked him.

Both Sir David Attenborough and the Son of Kathleen Lonsdale, Stephen Lonsdale said that ‘you can keep looking and looking into the painting and see more and more in it’. I believe that’s a good description and I am pleased I had the opportunity to discuss all the elements within it.

I was in awe, the memory, a fuzz of excitement and before I knew it the tour was moving on, I had forgotten to give the letter from my daughter and gift I had for him. I quickly grabbed the gift and passed it to Sir David. He shook my hand again and thanked me for it and I managed to say, ‘you’re an inspiration, it’s been an honour to meet you’ words I am sure he hears many times every day.

To read more about the COSMOPARTICLE and the Initiative go to the UCL article ‘Making sense of the Universe through art and physics’ or (click the artsci-work above) written by Zoe Cormier, an author and science writer based in London.
 
So that was the day I met Sir David Attenborough! What a memory, it has been fun recalling the day for this News blog I hope you have enjoyed reading it (especially thus far, well done! It is long!)
 
I will be back soon with news about COSMIC RAY, NEW SIGNALS and other projects happening right now.
For now, all the best, please feel free to post comments below about -if you had the honour- to meet Sir David Attenborough and also about how you are #goingplasticfree and/or #goingpaperfree.
Many thanks go to Anita Maguire for looking after me all day, Andrew and Hiranya for inviting me along and to Linda, Chris, Luísa, and Martin for sharing their knowledge and the brilliant conversations we had when some of us unwound at ‘Resting Hare’. 
Penelope Rose Cowley
Artsci Creator
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Signed Limited Edition Prints are available here. -

Mindscape
150cm  x 180cm
Acrylic on Canvas
2018

Illuminated Tractography
Lightbox with transparent digital Artsci work
594mm x 841mm
2018

The Magnet
36 inches by 24 inches
Oil on canvas
 2017

Braintree
100cm by 70cm
 Acrylic on canvas
 2018

Braintree is an integration of everything my collaborators had shared with me over two years, and an outpouring of all my experiences through the medium of paint. It was completed towards the end of this project and for me it is a visual conclusion to how I have absorbed their research and integrated their ideas into my own work – and how I understand how we experience our existence.

 MINDSCAPE

We decided to use a Lightbox to display the art – the same device used in hospitals to illuminate X-rays and MRi scans. We printed the artwork onto transparent film using state-of-the-art processing at Wave Design to Print Ltd to ensure the depth of hues, tones and gradients. These are so fine, that no trace of ink can be seen, even under a magnifying glass. 

An enormous amount of research, ideas and time go into every project I am involved with - and NEW SIGNALS is no exception.

The whole journey has been so challenging and so stimulating, I will probably still be discussing it in years to come. It is another chapter in my journey merging art and science.

Thankfully, the NEW SIGNALS story is not over yet: all the artsci works will eventually be placed on permanent display at the CUBRIC centre in Cardiff. Plus, over the next few years a touring exhibtion of all the works commissioned from myself and other artists will be toured around the UK before they then take their final resting place at CUBRIC. 

For now I would to give special acknowledgements to...

Director Professor Derek Jones for inviting me to participate in the project, and for all the conversations and encouragement he gave me I had over the years since 2012.

Project Manager Ying Lin Wellcome Trust Strategic Award WTSA for all the advice, patiences, understanding and recommendations.

Editor Zoe Cormier, for making sense of my words, sharing her experiences and allowing me to make her a part of MINDSCAPE.

Scientists Dr Leandro Beltrachini of the Brain Imaging Group in the School of Physics and Astronomy, and Dr Kevin Murphy, Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow. I want to thank them both for our conversations and for explaining their research.

Researchers Dr Emma Tallantyre, Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience at the School of Medicine, and Alex Goodall of the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust. I am thankful to both for their enthusiasm, for sharing their research, and for creating beautiful tractography images. 

Scientist Fabrizio Fasano, Collaboration Scientist at Siemens Healthineers and CUBRIC. I want to thank him for sharing his research and conversations.

And to The PROVIDI Lab, headed by Alexander Leemans, which focuses on processing, analyzing, and visualizing diffusion MRI data for investigating microstructural and architectural characteristics of tissue organization. I have not yet had the pleasure to meet Alexander yet, but I would like to thank him for giving me permission to integrate PROVIDI Lab images into NEW SIGNALS.  

(how time flies!...)

I have been creating pieces in the genre known as “artsci” since 2012, when I first met Professor Derek Jones, Director of the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Center (CUBRIC) at a local art exhibition where his team present their visual data – images of the brain – as art.

This inspired me to bring scientific ideas to life through my painting and illustrations. For the past six years I have been commissioned to create and exhibit a range of artsci pieces that explore subjects ranging from neuroscience to magnetism and astronomy. I find the beauty in the data irresistible.

For all of my commissions, I have worked closely with scientists to understand their research and incorporate their ideas into my work. These collaborations have had a profound influence on my perspectives of how we experience our existence.

I have been lucky enough to have a glimpse of the potential of the research at CUBRIC. Inspired by their incredible images of the brain, with every new piece of knowledge I gain from my collaborators, I find myself meditating on the composition of thoughts themselves. Such as the “spin echo” of a hydrogen atom’s proton as it vibrates inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRi) machine. Or how through “tractography” we can map the nerve cell tracts in the brain by measuring the movement of water molecules as they travel along neurons, pushed by magnetic fields. In a way, it feels like we can see the shape of our minds, and I find it incredible and very inspiring. 

Provide by Alex Leemans of
PROcessing & VIsualization in Diffusion Imaging (PROVIDI) Lab
http://www.providi-lab.org/image-gallery.html

Research in the macro scale and the micro scale into the anatomy of the brain lies on spectrum so vast, it seems the deeper one delves into the structure of the mind, the further down the axons we fly into a profusion of probabilities. It blows my mind.

The colours seen in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans and tractography images are not just pretty to look at: each hue represents one direction in the three-dimensional space in which echoing protons flip with magnetic pulses. With each pulse, they move along, through, in and out of axons, white matter, grey matter and the vortices of the brain. I find these to be incredibly beautiful in their own right. I have create many artsci work regarding DTi.

One portion of my work on New Signals for CUBRIC involved collaborating with Dr Leandro Beltrachini and Professor Kevin Murphy of the Brain Imaging Group in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University. Over several months starting in January 2017, I met with them to discuss their ideas and research, which I assimilated into my work.

Leandro explained to me how he works with electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors, magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanners, and the university’s new 3T connectome scanner to map the microstructures of the brain. With these he develops “numerical models for representing physical processes in arbitrary domains and conditions” – a complex way to describe something known as the “forward problem” .

Kevin is uses the aging process as a model to understand altered vasculature – how veins and arteries change, and how that affects an entire organ. He is developing neuroimaging tools we can use to assess the health of the cerebrovascular system – the veins, capillaries and arteries within the brain. In January 2017 he explained to me how his work on brain blood vessels and their relationship to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

I also collaborated with Dr Emma Tallantyre, Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience at Cardiff University, whom I was introduced to by CUBRIC’s Project Manager Ying Lin of the Wellcome Trust. Emma can be seen in this video:

Emma can be seen in this video at 2:44 discussing a scan with a volunteer in July 2017. In this video, we can see some of the first highly detailed scans from the new 3T microstructure scanner. It was very inspiring to witness. We were also joined by Alex Goodall, an intern from the NHS Trust, who was there to improve his technical skills with the ‘ExploreDTi’ programme, which processes the data gathered in tractography.

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