Enjoy a conversation between María Blasco, Scientific Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) and Head of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group (CNIO); Human Cell Atlas leader Sarah Teichmann, and artist Daniel Canogar, renowned for his algorithm-based installations, as they discuss their collaboration at the intersection of art, science, and technology.
Fulguraciones, a mesmerizing installation of an evolving luminous “echo” was the first work to come from Sarah and Daniel’s many conversations. In the words of Canogar, Fulguraciones is, “…a generative work that never repeats itself exactly; it has a life of its own…In this sense, it flirts with biology and with the patterns of life; the viewer will always see something new.” Inspired by the kind of cellular activity studied by Teichmann, the installation employed cutting-edge algorithms based on the cellular automata principle, generating captivating collective behaviors manifested in an array of lights on LED screens.
Daniel is an artist who has been working with algorithms and code for quite some time, focusing more recently on the concept of data collection. This connects seamlessly with Teichmann’s work with Human Cell Atlas, an archive of the almost 4000 trillion cells that can be found in the human body.
This event is part of the exhibition CNIO ARTE. Dialogues Between Art and Science, on view at the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago until January 25th 2024.
CNIO ARTE is an initiative of CNIO supported by the Fundación Banco Santander that brings together leading international scientists and artists to explore common territories. According to CNIO director María A. Blasco, "Scientists and artists have always looked into the unknown, the darkness, entering it without fear and with an open mind in order to learn, to see beyond."
For additional information, please visit: www.cnio.es
María A. Blasco
Scientific Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO)
Head of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group (CNIO)
María A. Blasco is a molecular biologist devoted to the study of telomeres and telomerase and their role in cancer and aging. Her work has been published in high impact journals as, Cell, Nature, Science or Cell Stem Cell, among others.
Blasco has merited vast recognition, both national and international. She was the recipient the EMBO Gold Medal in 2004. She has also been distinguished with the European Association of Cancer Research “Young Investigator Award” (2002), the Joseph Steiner Award (2003), the Rey Jaime I Prize for Basic Research (2007), the Körber European Science Award (2008), the Spanish National Research Award in Biology Santiago Ramón y Cajal (2010) as well as the Premio Jaume I.
Blasco has received four Doctorate Honoris Causa in Spain: Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (2014), Universidad of Alicante (2017), Universidad of Murcia (2018) and Universidad Internacional de Valencia (2022). In October 2017 received the Generalitat Valenciana Scientific Award.
Blasco has been an editor and monitoring editor of different scientific journals, as Cancer Research and Journal of Cell Biology, as well as member of several national and international Scientific Committees. In 2020 also became a member of the Board of Trustees of Museo del Prado (Madrid, Spain). In 2022, was appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees and President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the ICAR Foundation (International Center for Aging Research) (Valencia – Spain), as well as Member of the Advisory Board of FECYT. She also was designated Full Member (Académica de Número) of the Royal Spanish Academy of Pharmacy (Madrid –Spain).