Where Science Meets Art

Ella Amitay Sadovsky
"Composite Materials, Augmented Reality"
David Lopatie International Conference Centre
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Augmented reality refers to computerized technology that enables the creation of a hybrid existence of sorts: a real-life framework supplemented with “external,” possibly fabricated components. The result is a super-reality that is packed, enhanced and focused – capable, among other things, of improving the performance of pilots and surgeons. This architecture – a mold that is reinforced by its filling – also underlies advanced composite materials used, for instance, to manufacture sports equipment or satellite parts.

In her work as an artist, Dr. Ella Amitay Sadovsky, a graduate of the Weizmann Institute of Science in chemistry and materials science, relies on the principles of constructing composite materials. At first, she creates the background: a mold made of scraps of paper, fabric and paint. Into this mold she injects the contents: the “story.” At first glance, the result might appear to be a series of almost trivial episodes: randomly frozen moments in the life of an average person. But in fact, this is a multi-temporal system, a sort of an on-line video waiting for viewer to click on the arrow at its center to launch it on a journey, the ending still unknown.

Amitay Sadovsky offers the observer, or “user,” the option of an augmented reality – one that veers between dream and nightmare, simplicity and complexity, yesterday and tomorrow, insight and wonder. In the past, Amitay Sadovsky expressed her intent thus: “The uterus is a city. The city is a sea. There is a tree in the sea. The tree is a helicopter. The helicopter is a fish. The window is a painting. The floor is a puddle and the ceiling is a dress from the sixties.”

What brings a scientist working on materials (“the most utilitarian topic possible”) to switch to art, releasing her soul to romp wildly in the broad fields of the emotions? In her own way, Dr. Amitay Sadovsky is telling us that deep down the worlds of science and art share common values. Her personal augmented reality finds its expression in her works. For the time being, the question of which world is the “mold” and which is the “contents” remains an open one.

Curator: Yivsam Azgad