Festival Strong in Boston and Cambridge
Festival Blog Post contributed by Jean MacCormack. Against the backdrop of the palpable and positive atmosphere of “Boston Strong,” the Cambridge Science Festival took off and proved to be an example of energy, enthusiasm and delightful science surprises. From storefronts to backyards, science was to be found in nooks and crannies as well as in plain view.
I was initially greeted at lunch with Science Festival Alliance organizers Ben and Julie, including the opportunity for deep and wide conversations about festivals. These welcoming hosts provided both a big-picture perspective and tips on individual events in and around Cambridge. Also visiting was Susan Maples from VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) who brought the perspective of a regional research institute interested in developing a festival, which made for a useful and probing conversation about beginnings: decisions that need to be made about size, scale, goals, finding partners, working collaboratively with other state-wide institutions, and the key common principles that guide a Science Festival.
The festival was already in its 6th day, so I leapt in to experience some fabulous activities and presentations at this still dynamic and enticing end-phase of the festival. Along Mass Ave, storefront windows––and some garage doors––were showcases for the artistic renderings of the elements, each one unique, with a brief description the element and what it represents for the artist. Some of these were quite moving, and all were inventive. One of my favorites was Carbon (Graphite) in the University Stationery Store, near the MIT museum––perhaps because of the huge pencil in the window, reminding me of writing the old fashioned way! A stunning message was contained in another rendering of the same element.
Swissnex created an event that tastefully brought together two perspectives on a subject in a complementary way. Engineering professor J.Kim Vandiver, founder/director of the Edgerton Center at MIT, gave a brief history of high-speed photography. Harold Edgerton was an early pioneer in high-speed photography, famous for early iconographic photographs (e.g., a single drop of milk) dating from the 1930’s. Edgerton developed the stroboscope to freeze fast motion (hummingbirds, a gun firing, and other explosions) and to visualize flows (of smoke, liquids) not otherwise detectable with the naked eye. Fabian Oefner from Switzerland then presented his current artistic photographic work in the same field, using technological developments of lenses, lasers, and digital cameras at ever-higher speeds. He parallels his work to ‘an insect in amber’—a photograph capturing a moment in time––while adding his personal philosophical and artistic perspective to the technical process. His work has included photographing noise (vibrations made visible), construction and deconstruction (a beautiful vase or a toy car breaking apart), and the action of Pollack-style paint spray. Questions were wide-ranging, reflecting the audience’s diverse interests: technical points, neuroscience, perception, art, and philosophy!
Jello wobbled its way into the science Festival with a dynamic presentation by a biology major, turned teacher/Exploratorium Teacher Institute participant, turned “Gelologist!” Equally comfortable presenting to adults, high school students, and young children, Matt Micari artfully engaged the sleepiest of teenagers as well as the shyest of 1st graders. He guided us through the history of Jello (Jello has a history?), its origins and chemical composition (a hydrocolloid, from collagen), its useful properties (including conducting electricity, spherification, and mold-ability) and included hands-on activities engaging everyone. We learned that Jello could teach us more than just how to make a jello salad mold! More food: A magically designed presentation of Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner took place at the Broad Institute. Breakfast kicked off with Ayr Muir, the originator of Clover Food labs, an innovative food company aimed at producing and serving the freshest and best food. Muir’s conviction that what smells, tastes and looks the best, also has the best composition and indeed IS the best food for you, so develop and trust your senses! We learned all about heat, protein denaturing, sous-vide technique, why Europeans don’t have to refrigerate their eggs. He then outlined his thinking about the complexity of preparing a perfect egg [timing is everything!] so the restaurant could offer breakfast, but still adhere to its high standard of freshness. Next, Tim Cuniff from Backyard Farms described his 42-acre greenhouse in Madison, Maine where hydroponically-grown tomatoes are cultivated year round, supplying our tables with these fresh beauties. This complex planting, growth, monitoring, and nurturing system has its roots in the healthiest and greenest of goals. Finally, Bryan Greenhagen of Mystic Brewery shared his passion for the little guys – the fermenters. With a passion for going back to basics–– the type of Belgian beers produced centuries ago, he is finding a way to make this happen today using natural yeast strains. Saturday brought
rain but also the SciFest Block Party. A row of warehouses in Somerville hosted some dramatic scenes inside. Boulder Rock Climbing and Aerial Arts held open houses to entice the public into their dramatic work-spaces. At Aerial Arts, a group of young children were treated to an exploratory introduction to getting off the ground, on beautiful drapes and trapezes––close enough to the ground to be completely safe. At the end of the row of warehouses was Artisan’s Asylum – an absolutely amazing rabbit warren of creativity. A tour took us through the many square feet of space that are entirely devoted to creativity. To call it a “maker-space” is to understate its vibrancy and thrilling sense of purpose and possibility. Individuals can become members, thus able to use shared work- space in which to tinker, create, or just think and collaborate with other like-minded individuals. Others can rent more long-term spaces in which to set up more permanent work space/studios. Artisans work in a variety of techniques and forms: kinetic sculpture, toys, jewelry, costume design, electrical projects, woodwork, metal work, Rube Goldbergs, and plain old tinkering. One long term creator demonstrated his inventions/creations, a group of creators was putting the final touches on their robot for the next day’s competition, others were in the huge woodwork and metal work rooms with industrial-sized equipment and essential safety gear, and we spied generators, toy cars, bazookas, paintings, 3-D printer, a fiberglass boat, and an electron microscope! An important message of this exciting endeavor is that everyone can become a maker or creator; space and support allow our creativity to blossom. Key to the success of this enterprise is the shared access to materials/equipment that would otherwise not be available to individuals, coupled with an impressive cooperative spirit.
Sunday brought the Robot Competition! For weeks, teams from all over the area (e.g., the Somervillains, the Bunker HillBillies) had been designing and building self-directing robots to compete with one another in combat. I had expected a lively crowd but I was unprepared for the tremendous number of people rallying for this event. Huge amounts of energy, enthusiasm, and noise accompanied each round and those that I saw were full of a sense of friendly competition, as well as a sense of humor, sin
ce technical problems (or shyness) overtook several of these paired competing machines! In addition to these events, I also caught a tiny glimpses of Dialogue and Collaborative Exploration at MIT, briefly encountered a tour near Kendall Square recounting the history of the city’s early infrastructure/sewage, visited the MIT museum to see holography and kinetic sculptures and also had some wonderful conversations––with a shop owner whose window was transformed by “Central Elements,” with organizers, volunteers, and a variety of parents and other participants at many events. In all honesty, everyone was spirited and excited about the Festival!
