**Emma Brass: Uniting Science and Art through Pioneering Installations**
Emma Brass, a doctoral candidate on the verge of finalizing her thesis at the University of Liverpool, recently presented a significant art installation at the yearly River of Light festival. As a member of Andy Cooper’s autonomous robots lab within the Department of Chemistry, Brass exemplifies the blend of science and art.
The festival’s theme, ‘The Science of Light,’ promoted the integration of scientific insights into artistic interpretations. With her distinctive background in chemistry, programming, and robotics, along with a passion for code-inspired art, Brass was perfectly suited for participation. Her work was highlighted following a recommendation from her supervisor.
**Scholarly Adventures and Creative Aspirations**
Brass’s academic path commenced with an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Oxford, where her passion for numbers drew her towards physical chemistry. She cultivated an interest in coding during her master’s program, leading to a PhD centered on automation at the University of Liverpool. Working under the Cooper group, she concentrated on the automation of process chemistry, particularly in scaling synthetic methods for drug development.
Alongside her demanding scientific education, Brass explored abstract painting. Her experiences with robotics sparked an interest in human-robot cooperation in creative endeavors. This inquiry led her to experiment with a robot capable of co-painting with humans, examining the fusion of creativity within algorithmic constraints.
**Face Value: Where Art Intersects with Technology**
Her installation, Face Value, developed in partnership with Venya Krutikov from the Invisible Wind Factory, illustrates the harmony of art and technology. It showcases an AI-powered robotic artist that captures audience portraits, which are subsequently altered and projected on several large screens. This piece enables participants to observe their images evolve through different phases, ultimately integrating them into the installation’s continuous narrative.
The installation begins with attendees positioning themselves before illuminated backgrounds where cameras and facial recognition technology register their likenesses. These portraits are then transferred to secondary screens, manipulated by a 4 x 4m robot. As the visuals distort and shift, they reflect the robot’s movements, culminating in the final image on a concluding screen. This configuration creatively bonds viewers with the artwork, turning the audience into active contributors.
**Enhancing Interactivity and Audience Involvement**
Brass sought to create an interactive medium that was accessible to the festival’s broad audience. Her approach – a passive interaction merely requiring a captured moment from participants – provided an engaging experience with substantial personal significance. Audience feedback confirmed this decision, as attendees expressed joy in recognizing their transformations on-screen, despite the subtle implications of surveillance.
**Merging Chemistry and Creative Automation**
In her exploration of the overlap between science and art, Brass acknowledges the mutually beneficial aspects of her disciplines. The intricacy of chemistry and the abstract problem-solving techniques resonate with the logical structures essential for coding. Her PhD experience in automation inadvertently shaped her artistic endeavors, showcasing how scientific approaches can enhance creative expressions.
Emma Brass’s work represents the seamless integration of diverse fields, inspiring a new trend in both scientific and artistic domains. Her journey highlights the potential of interdisciplinary methodologies to cultivate innovative and impactful expressions in modern art.