Listen, the hands up exhibit at The Cade is, hands down, the best hands on show in GNV.
(I feel like I’ve been waiting my entire life to write that sentence.)
Actually the Cade’s newest exhibit is called Fascination of Science. Because, you know, it’s the Cade Museum of Creativity and Invention, and they’re forever throwing the S word around.
But I digress.
The point is that Fascination of Science is the work of German portrait photographer Herlinda Koelbl. It’s based on a book she published after traveling far and wide to meet with world class chemists, biologists, electrical engineers and such. Among them several Nobel Prize winners.
She didn’t just want to capture their images, but to try to get to the essence of why they do what they do.
Koelbl said at the museum’s opening reception that what drives scientists to want to go where none has gone before boils down to three factors: “Passion, curiosity and discipline.”
Oh, and above all, she wants you to know that “scientists are not boring. They’re hidden people…very interesting people.”
And Koelbl came up with a novel way to get her subjects to, um, open up to her.
Call it a scientific show of hands.
She asked each scientist to scrawl something meaningful to them on the palms of their hands.
She told them “it’s your turn, just play around with it, do whatever you want.”
And “suddenly the scientists were playing like children, and that was wonderful.“
Accompanying each photo is a plaque identifying the scientist, their speciality, and a favorite quote.
“I’m and adventurer, I explore,” one said. Another spoke of repeatedly being asked “why are you, as a woman, so passionate about science.”
Fascination of Science will be at The Cade for the rest of the year. You really ought to stop by and give it a look see.
If nothing else it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase: All hands on deck.
Oh, this isn’t a world class scientist. This is me.
I decided to write something on my palm to commemorate the memorable day I decided not to become a scientists.
One botched frog dissection in high school biology was quite enough for me, thank you very much.
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