Multimedia, microbes and music

What happens when art and science mix? This December, the medical school hosted an unusual biology experiment to find out.

Running the experiment was artist Yang Jiechang, recipient of this year’s Sterling Visiting Professorship in the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology. The professorship usually goes to a top scientist, but this year, the medical school’s senior associate dean for research Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, who is also a member of the department, suggested trying something completely different.

“She said let’s shake everybody up and invite an artist who would like to work at the interface of art and science,” said department chair James Ferrell, MD, PhD. His thoughts turned immediately to Jiechang, whom he first met as a result of an art exhibition at the Cantor Art Center in 2005, curated by his wife, art historian Britta Erickson. “I knew that Jiechang was an interesting artist doing interactive work—and a really smart guy,” Ferrell said.

Jiechang is an acclaimed artist who works in many media including ink painting, installation and performance. Born in 1956 in Foshan, a small city near Guangzhou in southern China, he studied folk art, calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting at the Foshan Institute of Folk Art, and continued his studies in traditional Chinese painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

Jiechang became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Guangzhou, where he remained until 1988. He was also a serious student of Zen Buddhism and Taoism during this time. In 1989 he emigrated to Paris. Some of his recent exhibitions include the Venice Biennale, 2007; a solo show at Galerie Jeanne Bucher in Paris; and all three of the Guangzhou Triennials, in 2002, 2005 and 2008.

Jiechang’s Stanford medical school project began with a trip in March to immerse himself in the work of scientists.

“We showed him some E. coli under a microscope swimming around. He was pretty overwhelmed by the idea that there’s this tiny universe in a drop,” said Ferrell. “And you can go from one E. coli to more than the number of people in the world in a day. He decided to build a project out of views of this microuniverse.”

The latest visit began Dec. 1 with a lecture and discussion, attracting about 50 scientists. “Jiechang spoke about the tensions in making good art —about issues such as craft vs. error and aesthetics vs. politics,” said Ferrell. “It definitely pushed members of the department into an unfamiliar space. They asked great questions.”

The Stanford experiment culminated in a public talk and the multimedia performance, In God We Trust on Dec. 9 in the Beckman Center’s Munzer Auditorium.