'If things grow wrong - The paradox of science' Estel Collado Camps visits a new exhibition at Museum De Lakenhal

In Museum De Lakenhal, located in Leiden, the exhibition If things grow wrong has opened its doors. Among the four different installations, one catches our eye immediately: they call it The paradox of science. An evoking title, if you ask me… because the way we do, see and understand science knows many paradoxes. 

Projected wall installations show movies of beautiful 2D and 3D images. A multicolour histological image fusing with a black and white one, full colour glandular tissue, colourful filaments that remind of neuronal axons, little T-cells that move hectically around a tumour organoid and go in for the kill. The most sophisticated histology and microscopy techniques show us how our organs and cells work in an extreme amount of detail. There is so much we can learn from these immensely detailed images.

But the members of the Dream3D lab also see a dark side of their beautiful work: the huge amount of high-quality materials that ends up discarded and then burned after a single use. Piles and piles of it. Therefore, they decided to tell the story some don’t see, and some decide to forget. Just like with cancer, they hope that making things visible will be the first step to changing them. For the better.

Aside from the images that remind of us ever so fast progressing science, the visitor of The paradox of science is confronted with the bins every laboratory knows. Here, they’re turned upside-down. Their contents spill down the wall and over the floor, reminding us of a tumour invading the body. The impressive installation -including a lab bench that is shockingly similar to my own- is the result of a collaborative effort between scientists and designers. Hannah Johnson, Florijn Dekkers, Mario Barrera Román and other members of the Dream3D lab at the Princess Máxima Centre for Pediatric Oncology teamed up with social designer Annefleur Schut and mixed media designer Jochem Messmer in collaboration with the Supernatual foundation. Biomedicine and design are combined here to send a key message.

How did they, the makers, experience this? Young and bright Annefleur Schut just graduated from her Bachelor’s in Communication and Multimedia Design at Hogeschool Utrecht. What began for her as an extra project became a kaleidoscopic experience. The first time exhibiting in a museum. And the first time working with scientists. We had to get used to each other’s language. But if you sit together more often, and see where the other is coming from, it works very well.

We talked about the foolishness of putting disciplines in “boxes”. If you thought artists are not methodic, think about art-based research. If you see, scientists as cold, literal and narrow minded ask yourself: what would become of science without creativity? Anne Ríos at the Dream3D lab sees herself also as an artist, using her data driven images to also tell a compelling visual story. Indeed, scientists are eager to tell their stories. Observing, innovating, experimenting, building and re-building. This is what we all do. And science, as well as art, is full of paradoxes.

Annefleur had never thought about the waste a lab would produce. It opened her eyes to the problems of a world she didn’t know. It’s exciting to see that design can be a catalyst for change: While art is often open to interpretation, good design is much more about communicating a clear message. We’ve used art to enhance that message. The place we’ve created is a space for new contacts, to meet up, reflect and discuss.  

Hannah similarly never realized how the project would take her and the rest of the Dream3D lab on such a rollercoaster experience. At first we thought, “Hey, ‘If things grow wrong’ as a topic is perfect for us, we work on cancer which is when cells grow wrong and love to use our images for public outreach” but then the sustainability aspect came into the design and the concept took on a life of its own. The public response to the lab waste issue has been overwhelming in how interested they are and want to help find solutions. I think it’s important they are also aware of what we face in terms of sustainability issues in the lab as much of the work we do is publicly funded. Science needs to be fully accountable for the way it is conducted.

In the end, we all face similar challenges. Annefleur faced the technical challenges of guaranteeing fire safety, accessibility, and moving installations that would trigger the safety alarm at night. Step by step, she found solutions. So are Hannah and many scientists confronted with the technical aspects of reproducibility, biological safety, sterility. And with the paradox of designing the health of the future… while putting more strains on the environment. Thus, wherever you are, whatever your background is – open your eyes. Go to Lakenhal and experience the paradox of science. Have you got a solution?

Blog by Estel Collado Camps

Special thanks to Annefleur Schut and Hannah Johnson