ENSITIVE S UBJECTS
SArt and science make fascinating bedfellows in the latest exhibition at the Block Museum of Art, The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto
By J.P. AndersonWhat does a cardiograph have to do with a work of art? Everything, if you’re Dario Robleto.
The practice of the San Antonio-born artist (and current artist-at-large at the Block Museum of Art) is built around the idea that artists and scientists have much more in common than might be obvious; now, his works—from photolithographs to immersive video installations and sculptures, each exploring the connection between scientific technology and ideas of human empathy—are on expansive display at the Block’s new exhibition, The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto. Here, Michael Metzger, the museum’s Pick-Laudati Curator of Media Arts, discusses the significance of a variety of pieces included in the exhibition. Through July 9, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
The human pulse may be the most legible of all life signs. Symbols of near-universal recognition today, the representations of the heart’s pulse as a wave dates back to 1854, when German doctor Karl von Vierordt preserved the first visual record of heart activity by tracing a pulse on a strip of candle-sooted paper using a stylus made from a single human hair. Robleto describes this groundbreaking innovation as ‘not only medical but also poetic and philosophical in the long arc of human self-reflection.’”
“‘First pulse,’ 1854, from the portfolio ‘The First Time, The Heart (A Portrait of Life 1854-1913)’” (2017, photolithography, hand-flamed and sooted paper, image lifted from soot with lithotine, fused with shellac and denatured alcohol)
All images courtesy of the artist“The Computer of Jupiter”
(2019, various cut and polished seashells, sea urchin spines, cut and quilled paper, squilla claws, colored powder pigments, colored plastic beads, acrylic domes, brass rod, colored mirrored Plexiglas, glue and acrylic on wood)
Inspired by his time as an artist-in-residence at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, Robleto has crafted a series of ‘gifts for extraterrestrials.’ These sculptural works, featuring intricate shell arrangements, negotiate differing contemporary views on the best way to begin a dialogue with alien intelligences.”
“Elegies of Proxima b” (2019, various cut and polished seashells, sea urchin spines, green tusks, squilla claws, butterfly wings, cut paper, colored powder pigments, colored plastic beads, acrylic domes, brass rod, colored mirrored Plexiglas, glue and acrylic on wood)
‘Elegies of Proxima b’ is named for a potentially Earth-like exoplanet. The artist describes the work as a proposed gift for extraterrestrials, inviting us to imagine the objects humans might offer on first contact with other beings. Scholar Elizabeth Kessler, who writes on the aesthetics of deep space, likens these to ‘extravagant, alien floral arrangements; elaborate, three-dimensional kaleidoscopes; or fantastic, multitiered birthday cakes topped with pinwheels.’”
“The Boundary of Life Is Quietly Crossed” (2019, twochannel 4K video, color, 5.1 surround sound installation, 51 minutes)
This cut-paper and mixedmedia assemblage pays tribute to the figures who inspired the 1984 founding of the SETI Institute. Portraits of Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan and ‘Father of SETI’ Frank Drake are framed by phrases that acknowledge the vastness of space and the infinitesimal odds of making contact with other life-forms. Drawing on the visual tradition of the memorial plaque, Robleto suggests that it is our responsibility to bear witness and to preserve the memory of this task.”
“Sisyphus’ Archivists” (2018, cut paper, various cut and polished seashells, green and white tusks, squilla claws, spirula shell, colored powder pigments, colored crushed glass and glitter, plastic domes, prints on paper, basswood, foam core, glue and frame)
The ability to record and replay sound is relatively new, a world historical event whose shock waves still reverberate today. Robleto has recently embraced the medium of digital video to create works that narrate transformational episodes in the recording and study of wave phenomena. ‘The Boundary of Life Is Quietly Crossed’ takes inspiration from one of the most famous sound recordings of all time—the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated phonographic disc launched into space onboard the Voyager I and II space probes in 1977.”
Each of the heartbeats reproduced in Robleto’s prints represents the first instance when a human heart experiencing a specific emotion or activity was recorded. Through intensive research and exquisite craft, Robleto returns us to these thrilling moments in scientific discovery and transforms them into objects of beauty and contemplation. While the names of the owners of these hearts are mostly forgotten to history, Robleto brings us closer to the thrum of life preserved in their delicate lines.”
“Religious guilt,” 1878 from the portfolio “The First Time, The Heart (A Portrait of Life 1854-1913)” (2017, photolithography, hand-flamed and sooted paper, image lifted from soot with lithotine, fused with shellac and denatured alcohol)
“Unknown and Solitary Seas (Dreams and Emotions of the 19th Century)” (2018, earliest waveform recordings of blood flowing from the heart and in the brain during sleep, dreaming and various emotional states [1874-96], rendered and 3D-printed in brass-plated stainless steel, lacquered maple and 22K gold leaf)
“Survival Does Not Lie in the Heavens”
(2012, digital inkjet print mounted on Sintra, a collection of stage lights taken from the album covers of live performances of nowdeceased gospel, blues and jazz musicians)
At first glance, this triptych appears to present Hubble telescope photographs of deep space. But this is a subtle work of collage: Each apparent galaxy is in fact a stage light drawn from live album covers by deceased musicians. Astronomy and recorded music, the work suggests, both deal in afterimages: Just as Hubble’s images capture light reaching us eons after the stars themselves may have gone dim, these albums present ‘liveness’ at a mournful remove.”
The invention of the cardiograph promised 19th century physicians a window into the minds and bodies of patients. For the first time, pulse waves could objectively measure emotional states, proving that inner experiences arise through corporeal transformations. ‘Unknown and Solitary Seas’ celebrates this breakthrough by casting pulse waves as objects with heft and presence, as visceral as the arteries they document. Showcasing heartbeats across a range of mental states, from fear and anger to mental repose, the sculpture proposes a unity of mind and body, bridging 19th century European science with contemporary ‘whole patient’ philosophies of medicine.”
SKOKIE’S GALLERY SCENE IS SIZZLING
