Thanks to Annina, the researcher I’m working with, the collaboration is inspiring. Here are some of her thoughts:
It is fascinating to have the unique opportunity to see your own research through completely different eyes. The collaboration with Jonathan made me focus on the “raw information” that is conveyed in my graphs and images, rather than the technical details and analyses my work normally focuses on. Through Jonathan’s eyes, flow cytometry graphs became a video and a glimpse through the microscope became layers of engraved perspex.
The light box is a fascinating reflection of the thymus that I observe through the microscope. For me the multiple layers reflect the network through which the T cells travel and where their fate is decided by the thymic epithelial cells. By slightly changing the angle of observation the image changes and becomes dynamic, just like the thymus itself, which allows our body to constantly adapt to new immune challenges.
Working with an artist on my research topic has been incredibly interesting and it made me realize that even though our work is very different, in the end, we are both trying to find new and interesting information by experimenting – me in the laboratory and Jonathan in his studio.
