Bringing art and research together to bring down barriers for people with disabilities

TRANSCRIPT

In this week’s episode of Research for What?, I learn about the work of legally-blind artist and researcher Dr Erica Tandori. Erica creates artwork to exhibit science to people with vision or hearing impairment, who traditionally don’t have access to research. Erica has spent the last couple of years in the Rossjohn Lab at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University to understand, articulate and exhibit research and science using multiple senses like vision, touch, sound and smell.

Here, Erica describes the similarities and parallels between art and research. She explains how bringing both together, in harmony, can be relatively easy and immensely rewarding. Erica’s mission and unique approach to making knowledge accessible to everyone are impressive and inspiring.

In this episode, we are also joined by audio-designer and composer Stuart Favilla from the School of Design at Swinburne University. Erica and Stu produce extraordinary pieces, which not only touch artists and members of the public who are not familiar with research and its practice, but also speak to scientists and clinicians. They help researchers, who have been studying fundamental mechanisms and diseases for years, to see their work differently, as artists, turning structural biology models into sculptures. 

Erica and Stu recently launched a multisensory book titled ‘My Goodness’ (preview here). My Goodness is a series of 10 interactive ‘books’, combining tactile artworks, audio sonifications, braille-inspired protein molecules, large print, audio narration and braille supplements, which allow low-vision, blind, hearing-impaired and general audiences alike, to explore research on gut health, nutrition and immunity. It even comes with a pop song that can be heard at the end of this episode!

Find more examples of Erica’s and Stu’s artwork including:

Erica’s websiteThe Monash Sensory Science initiative (video of the 2019 Sensory Scientific exhibition here)Covers of scientific journals that Erica created (here)The HIV data projection project (video here) and the HIV CousCous Project (video here)

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