Maryam Razi, one of the designers at UCLA ArtSci Center, designed the Lightfest Symposium graphics. The design drew inspiration from the shape of laser beams and the dynamic movement of light. Beginning with white, representing the color of light before it passes through a prism, the design transitions into the full spectrum of colors. The Lightfest design incorporated both digital and physical materials.

Maryam Razi wears multiple hats as a visual designer, eyewear artisan, freelance curator, and part-time writer. She focuses on the crossroads where art, science, technology, and culture meet. With a solid design and research foundation, Maryam is pursuing a Master of Science in User Experience, adding to her existing advanced degree.

The opening reception for *Silent Echoes: Notre-Dame and the Dachstein Glacier* took place on September 14, 2024, from 2–4 pm at UCLA's Royce Hall, Room 306. Curated by Victoria Vesna and Anuradha Vikram, this site-specific sound installation by Bill Fontana blended audio from Notre-Dame’s silenced bells and the melting Dachstein Glacier in Austria. The installation was part of *Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption*, a project presented by the UCLA Art|Sci Center, and was featured as part of Getty's PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.

The event began with opening remarks by Lionel Popkin, Dean of the UCLA Department of Art, followed by an engaging discussion with the curators. Attendees also participated in a sound walk led by Bill Fontana, experiencing the immersive sound installation broadcast throughout Dickson Court. The installation remained active from Thursday to Saturday, 12–5 pm, and will run through October 5, 2024.
*Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption* programs and exhibitions will continue through June 7, 2025.

Read more:
http://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1621
https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?e=%5BUNIQID%5D&u=9baf6baeafa7dd6c42a6d...

>>About the artist: With a career spanning fifty years, Bill Fontana is internationally known for his pioneering experiments in sound. He has consistently used sound as a sculptural medium to interact with and transform our perceptions of visual and architectural spaces. Applying his knowledge of composition, he draws out patterns of sound from the natural and manmade worlds to create sound works with the potential to conjure up visual imagery in the mind of the listener.

>>About "Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption:"
Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption is a series of exhibitions and performances, an app, and a publication highlighting eight Art|Sci artists in residence: Sholeh Asgary, Patricia Cadavid, Bill Fontana,Yolande Harris, Anna Nacher, Joel Ong, Iman Person, and Robertina Šebjanič; along with five local artists: Katie Grinnan, Rachel Mayeri, Christina McPhee, Amber Stucke, and Nina Waisman.
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**Image Descriptions:**
1. The audience gathered in front of Royce Quad and engaged in the event.
2. From left: Christiane Paul, curator at the Whitney Museum; Bill Fontana, artist; Victoria Vesna, artist and director of the UCLA Art|Sci Center, co-curator of *Atmosphere of Sound*; Erkki Huhtamo, media archaeologist and theorist.
3. Bill Fontana delivering a talk to the audience.
4. Attendees seated, listening to the presentations.
5. Victoria Vesna and Anuradha Vikram, co-curators of the *Atmosphere of Sound* initiative, engaged in conversation.
6. Heather MacDonald, Senior Program Officer at the Getty Foundation, reading the *Atmosphere of Sound* book.
7. Audience members exploring the event's publications, including Bess Rochlitzer, President of the David Bermant Foundation.
8-9. Lionel Popkin, Dean of the UCLA Department of Art, delivers remarks to the audience.
10. The audience is experiencing the sound installation near the speakers in Room 306 of Royce Hall.

ART|SCI welcomed Santiago Torres, a former postdoctoral scholar in UCLA's Physics and Astronomy Department and a member of the ArtSci Collective, for a great lecture on astrophysics, sound, and art on May 22, 2024 for Professor Victoria Vesna's Honors Seminar Series "Biotechnology and Art."

Santiago Torres is an astrophysicist passionate about the art of making science and the science of making art. His research delves into the dynamical interactions of celestial bodies, from stars to planets and comets, through the stellar life cycle and beyond. Parallel to his research, he explores the intersection between science, art, and society, and he is the founder of the {ScienceArt:Collective}, a space to connect scientists and artists. He is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow | IST-BRIDGE Fellow at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and an ArtSci Fellow at the ArtSci Center at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

Haley Marks, Project Scientist at UCLA ALMS, generously contributed her time and knowledge to make the Fiat Lux Water Bowl performative installation truly remarkable. At ALMS (Advanced Light Microscopy and Spectroscopy Laboratory), autofluorescence and polarization images of the herbal plants horehound, rosemary, mugwort, stinging nettle, vervain, and lavender were captured using a Leica Thunder Widefield Microscope.

Dr. Haley L. Marks, Ph.D. is a biomedical engineer with interests in nano-biosensor research, translational medicine, and optics education. She has expertise in developing novel reporter dyes, nanoparticles, and has extensive experience working with spectroscopy/microscopy instrumentation, 3D printing, and developing microfluidic and lateral flow assay platforms. Since joining CNSI in 2022, Haley has served as a technical expert, providing advanced light microscopy training and services to ALMS users. She works on developing and optimizing ALMS’s existing super-resolution and high-speed optical methods, developing strategies and imaging tools for in vivo imaging, and optimizing and disseminating computational imaging techniques. Haley was a recipient of the Whitaker International Fellowship and of the SPIE Franz Hillenkamp Fellowship.

See the installation images here: http://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1741

Image description:
1- Haley Marks capturing images of medicinal herbs.
2- Herbs being prepared for imaging under the Leica Thunder Widefield Microscope.
3- Media artist Victoria Vesna in the lab with Haley Marks.
4- Haley Marks and Mae Chen performing a final check on the installation.
5- Haley Marks at the Lightfest Symposium welcoming reception, introducing the International Day of Light.
6- Haley Marks with Hana Azab preparing the Fiat Lux Water Bowl installation.

ART|SCI Collective presented a site-specific collaborative installation, FIAT LUX Water Bowl, at the opening of UNESCO's annual International Day of Light, "LIGHTEST, Advanced Light Microscopy Symposium," at CNSI.
The installation was a 10-minute experience featuring sound, light, lasers, and micro and macro imagery. Participants were invited into a dark space that transitioned into an interactive experience with sound, light, and microscopy of medicinal plants juxtaposed with solar flares, Alfvén waves, and cosmic acoustics.

Art|Sci Collective members, led by artist Victoria Vesna and in collaboration with plasma physicist Walter Gekelman, project scientist Haley Marks, ALMS, John Brumley, and students Yichen Pan, Samuel Yang, Mae Chen, and Hana Azab.

The "Fiat Lux Water Bowl" installation engaged multiple senses: vision, through watching the laser beams and their reflections on the water bowl; hearing, with the accompanying sounds; and smell, through the presence of herbs in the installation space. These herbs were handpicked from a farm in Topanga and examined under a microscope. Autofluorescence and polarization images of the herbal plants were captured using a Leica Thunder Widefield Microscope.
Right after the "Art in Science" session, the audience was invited to the exhibition space, a presentation room in the CNSI lobby where we showcased the installation—truly "art" on a "science" platform! The performative installation was also displayed on the big screen in the lobby.
Check out the symposium page: http://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1740

The UNESCO International Day of Light theme of 2024 was "The Light in our Lives."

Image description:
1. Installation of the "Fiat Lux Water Bowl" at Lightfest Symposium, 2024.
2. John Brumley, Yichen Pan, Samuel Yang, Mae Chen, and Hana Azab preparing the piece a few hours before showcasing.
3. Scientist Haley Marks preparing the medicinal herbs for microscopy observation.
4. Audience being immersed in the installation.
5. Installation view of the "Fiat Lux Water Bowl" at Lightfest Symposium.
6. Walter Gekelman and Victoria Vesna working with students on the piece.
7. Another view of the "Fiat Lux Water Bowl" at Lightfest Symposium.
8. Medicinal herbs: mint, horehound, rosemary, mugwort, stinging nettle, vervain, and lavender.
9. Mae Chen, Yichen Pan, and Samuel Yang were hidden behind black fabric while the installation was on view!
10. Victoria Vesna and Haley Marks with Mae Chen, Yichen Pan, and Samuel Yang after the show was over.

Lightfest! Advanced Light Microscopy Symposium at CNSI
**UNESCO’s International Day of Light**

The second annual Lightfest! Advanced Light Microscopy Symposium at CNSI was held to celebrate UNESCO’s International Day of Light from May 15 – 17 in honor of Theodore Maiman, who fired the first laser in Southern California on May 16th, 1960. The symposium featured invited talks from a selection of light microscopy users, poster presentations and awards, an image contest, and vendor booths.

Opening Keynote:
Session Chair Laurent Bentolila (UCLA)
Speaker: Scott E. Fraser
"Adding dimensions to intravital imaging to better eavesdrop on biology"

Scott E. Fraser, Ph.D. Provost Professor of Biological Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, USC
Imaging of living specimens can animate the wealth of high-throughput molecular data to better understand complex events ranging from embryonic development to disease processes. We are advancing this approach despite the unavoidable tradeoffs – between spatial & temporal resolution, field of view, limited photon budget – by constructing faster and more efficient light sheet and laser-scanning microscopes that maintain subcellular resolution.
Our two-photon light-sheet microscope combines the deep penetration of two-photon microscopy and the speed of light sheet microscopy to generate images with more than 10x improved imaging speed & sensitivity. Better engineering of the detection objective’s point-spread-function improves this another 3-fold. Two-photon excitation light is far less scattered, permitting subcellular resolution to be maintained better than conventional light sheet microscopes, resulting in 4D (3D over time) cell and molecular imaging with sufficient speed and resolution to unambiguous trace cell lineages, movements and signals in intact systems.

Dr. Bentolila is Director of the Advanced Light Microscopy/Spectroscopy Laboratory, the Macro-Scale Imaging Laboratory, the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence, and a Senior Research Scientist at the California NanoSystems Institute, CNSI, at UCLA. Dr. Bentolila’s long-standing research interest focuses on the application of nanotechnology and advanced light microscopy techniques to biology and medicine. Towards this goal, Dr. Bentolila has developed novel fluorescent probes and assembled a unique collection of custom-built and commercial optical microscopes used for the study of macromolecules, cellular dynamics, and nanoscale characterization of biomaterials. Since joining UCLA in 2002, he has received continuous federal and institutional funding to develop multi-disciplinary research programs and support a state-of-the-art optical microscopy Technology Center that fosters innovation across disciplines and facilitate university collaborations with industry. Dr. Bentolila is the recipient of several awards including the European Molecular Biology Organization and the Burroughs Welcome Fund.

This year, the UCLA ArtSci Center joined ALMS LAB in celebrating the International Day of Light by infusing vibrant artistic approaches into science. We provided the visual identity for the symposium and presented an installation featuring sound, light, lasers, and micro and macro imagery. The installation was a collaborative effort led by artist Victoria Vesna, plasma physicist Walter Gekelman, project scientist Hayley Marks, ALMS, John Brumley, and students Yichen Pan, Samuel Yang, Mae Chen, and Hana Azab.
Check out the installation page: http://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1741

All the vendors showcased their latest technology and research in their booths at the CNSI lobby. The ArtSci Center also presented the center's current and past projects as well as the SciArt Summer Sessions program for high school students.

The first day of the symposium featured a session titled "Art in Science," chaired by media artist Victoria Vesna and two ArtSci scientist fellows: biologist Daniel G. Jay from Tufts University and physicist Walter Gekelman from UCLA.

--> FULL SCHEDULE: https://cnsi.ucla.edu/lightfest-2024/schedule/
May 15 - 17, 2024
CNSI Alfred E Mann Auditorium & Lobby

Image description:
1. Keynote speaker Scott E. Fraser on opening day.
2. ALMS director Laurent Bentolila leading the keynote discussion.
3. Victoria Vesna, director of UCLA ArtSci Center, introducing the "Art in Science" session with Daniel Jay on screen.
4. Victoria Vesna introducing distinguished physicist Walter Gekelman.
5. Physicist Walter Gekelman giving a talk on using lasers to map the motion of ions in a plasma physics experiment.
6. Daniel Jay explaining the concept of art in science.
7. Audience interacting with a piece at the "Art in Science" session.
8. ArtSci team members Maryam Razi, Ivy Lovett, and TC interacting with the Alien Star Dust app, a project by Victoria Vesna, at the ArtSci booth. info: https://alienstardust.com
9. A child having fun with Leica microscopy.

This past week we were privileged to welcome Siddharth Ramakrishnan, a fellow and former instructor of UCLA SCI ART Institute and a current neuroscientist at University of Puget Sound, as a visiting lecturer at the UCLA ArtSci Center. His research interests span the field of developmental biology, neuroendocrinology and sensory-motor integration. As a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA (2006-2009) he studied the development and physiology of reproductive neurons in the zebrafish brain. His previous research addressed pattern-generating networks in snails and how they were modulated to elicit various behaviors. As a respondent to Aaron Blaisdell's lecture at the LASER event on April 24th in the CNSI Presentation Room, Siddharth Ramakrishnan provided an array of questions and ideas for Professor Blaisdell's research on "Pigeon Art."

Siddharth Ramakrishnan, PhD., a Neuroscientist, is an Assistant Professor of Biology and the Jennie M. Caruthers Chair in Neuroscience at the University of Puget Sound. Ramakrishnan was awarded his Ph.D. in neuroscience and a Master of Science degree in computer sciences from University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to that he received a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences from the Biria Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India. Ramakrishnan’s expertise spans electrophysiology, small animal models, neural cultures, bio-electronic devices, and cellular membranes. His teaching has included basic biology; cellular neuroscience laboratory; the neural foundations of animal behavior; neuroendocrinology; and the intersection of art, science, and technology. A Fellow of the UCLA Art/Sci center, his collaborations with artists have led to exhibitions and documentaries that blend the worlds of art and science highlighting topics like Hox genes, animal umwelts and biomimicry. Recent exhibits have been at the Microwave New Media festival (2011) and at Art Environment Action at the New School of Design (2012). He is developing an Art+Science collective in his current position.

MORE INFO
https://www.pugetsound.edu/directory/siddharth-ramakrishnan

Featured speaker: Aaron Blaisdell
Responder: Siddharth Ramakrishnan
Chaired by Victoria Vesna
This LASER is connected to the exhibition opening at the UCLA ArtSci gallery at CNSI – developed by Professor Aaron Blaisdell with his research students at the Comparative Cognition Lab at UCLA.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: https://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1710
Guest responder is Siddharth Ramakrishnan, a neuroscientist at the University of Puget Sound and a UCLA post-doctoral researcher (2006-2009).

About LASER Talks:
Leonardo/ISAST LASER Talks is a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of LASER is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities and 5 continents worldwide.
MORE INFO https://leonardo.info/laser-talks\

https://www.psych.ucla.edu/faculty-page/aaron-blaisdell/
Dr. Blaisdell is a Psychology Professor and Chair of the Behavioral Neuroscience area at UCLA, overseeing the Comparative Cognition Lab and the Pigeon Art Project. As a member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute, the UCLA Integrative Center for Learning & Memory, and the UCLA Evolutionary Medicine program, Dr. Blaisdell has an extensive academic background with a BA in Anthropology from SUNY Stony Brook, an MS in Anthropology from Kent State University, a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from SUNY Binghamton, and two years of NIH-funded postdoctoral training at Tufts University.

https://www.pugetsound.edu/directory/siddharth-ramakrishnan
Siddharth Ramakrishnan, PhD., a Neuroscientist, is an Assistant Professor of Biology and the Jennie M. Caruthers Chair in Neuroscience at the University of Puget Sound. His research interests span the field of developmental biology, neuroendocrinology and sensory-motor integration. He is a recent recipient of the NSF CAREER award for early career scientists to explore modulation of the reproductive axis in the brain by endocrine disruptors. As a research scientist at Columbia University, he designed microchips to record from brain cells and used proteins to create bio-batteries and biosensors. As a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA (2006-2009) he studied the development and physiology of reproductive neurons in the zebrafish brain. His previous research addressed pattern-generating networks in snails and how they were modulated to elicit various behaviors.

https://pigeonrat.psych.ucla.edu/blaisdell-lab/
MORE INFO about the Blaisell lab.