Tools for making imagination blossom at MIT.nano

The MIT community and visitors have a new reason to drop by MIT.nano: six artworks by Brazilian artist and sculptor Denise Milan. Located in the open-air stairway connecting the first- and second-floor galleries within the nanoscience and engineering facility, the works center around the stone as a microcosm of nature. From Milan’s “Mist of the Earth” series, evocative of mandalas, the project asks viewers to reflect on the environmental changes that result from human-made development.

Milan is the inaugural artist in “Encounters,” a series presented by STUDIO.nano, a new initiative from MIT.nano that encourages the exploration of platforms and pathways at the intersection of technology, science, and art. Encounters welcomes proposals from artists, scientists, engineers, and designers from outside of the MIT community looking to collaborate with MIT.nano researchers, facilities, ongoing projects, and unique spaces.

“Life is in the art of the encounter,” remarked Milan, quoting Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes, during a reception at MIT.nano. “And for an artist to be in a place like this, MIT.nano, what could be better? I love the curiosity of scientists. They are very much like artists ... art and science are both tools for making imagination blossom.” What followed was a freewheeling conversation between attendees that spanned topics ranging from the cyclical nature of birth, death, and survival in the cosmos to musings on the elemental sources of creativity and the similarities in artistic and scientific practice to a brief lesson on time crystals by Nobel Prize laureate Frank Wilczek, the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at MIT.

Milan was joined in her conversation by MIT.nano Director Vladimir Bulović, the Fariborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technologies; Ardalan SadeghiKivi MArch ’22, who moderated the discussion; Samantha Farrell, manager of STUDIO.nano programming; and Naomi Moniz, professor emeritus at Georgetown University, who connected Milan and her work with MIT.nano.

“In addition to the technical community, we [at MIT.nano] have been approached by countless artists and thinkers in the humanities who, to our delight, are eager to learn about the wonders of the nanoscale and how to use the tools of MIT.nano to explore and expand their own artistic practice,” said Bulović.

These interactions have spurred collaborative projects across disciplines, art exhibitions, and even MIT classes. For the past four years MIT.nano has hosted 4.373/4.374 (Creating Art, Thinking Science), an undergraduate and graduate class offered by the Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) Program. To date, the class has brought 35 students into MIT.nano’s labs and resulted in 40 distinct projects and 60 pieces of art, many of which are on display in MIT.nano’s galleries.

With the launch of STUDIO.nano, MIT.nano will look to expand its exhibition programs, including supporting additional digital media and augmented/virtual reality projects; providing tools and spaces for development of new classes envisioned by MIT academic departments; and introducing programming such as lectures related to the studio's activities.

Milan’s work will be a permanent installation at MIT.nano, where she hopes it will encourage individuals to pursue their creative inspiration, regardless of discipline. “To exist or to disappear?” Milan asked. “If it’s us, an idea, or a dream — the question is how much of an assignment you have with your own imagination.”