Mighty Microglia and Pruning the neuronal Forest
Mighty Microglia, 2019
Ellen Sandor & (art)n: Diana Torres and Azadeh Gholizadeh
Beth Stevens, The Stevens Lab: Lasse Dissing-Olesen
Special thanks to Caleb Sandor Taub
Stevens Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and The Stanley Center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Virtual Photograph/Digital PHSCologram Sculpture: Duratrans, Kodalth, Plexiglas, wood
48 x 48 inches
In this immersive PHSCologram sculpture installation, Mighty Microglia are juxtaposed with selected images featured in Eliot Porter’s Intimate Landscapes Portfolio (Daniel Wolf Press, 1979) from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection. This stunning diptych inspired the VR Game, Eternal Pruning of the Beautiful Mind.
Eliot Porter’s visceral portraits of trees are poetic metaphors for the organic networks of neurons within our brain. These networks are believed to continuously undergo changes, in part due to synaptic pruning, a process by which neuronal connections (synapses) are eliminated. It can be seen as our brain’s way of weeding out neuronal connections that are no longer needed. Microglia, the brain’s immune cells, are found throughout our brain, where they continuously survey the environment. The Stevens Lab and others have provided evidence that microglia plays an important role in synaptic pruning.
“From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind . . . “— Eliot Porter
Eliot Porter was an American photographer, born in Winnetka, Illinois, who is recognized for his vivid photographs of nature. Porter studied and earned degrees in chemical engineering and medicine at Harvard University, and also worked as a biomedical researcher at Harvard. Porter was introduced to Alfred Stieglitz by his brother, the painter and art critic, Fairfield Porter. After a successful showing of his work at Stieglitz’s New York Gallery, An American Place, Porter began to explore photography as his passion and life’s work.
Mighty Microglia & Prunning the Synaptic Forest, 2019
Ellen Sandor & (art)n: Diana Torres and Azadeh Gholizadeh
Beth Stevens, The Stevens Lab: Lasse Dissing-Olesen
Special thanks to Caleb Sandor Taub
Stevens Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and The Stanley Center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Virtual Photograph/Digital PHSCologram Sculpture: Duratrans, Kodalth, Plexiglas, wood
48 x 48 inches
Turn on audio with video controls
Eternal Pruning of the Beautiful Mind, 2019
Ellen Sandor & (art)n: Diana Torres, Azadeh Gholizadeh, and Chris Collins
Beth Stevens, The Stevens Lab: Lasse Dissing-Olesen
Special thanks to Caleb Sandor Taub
Stevens Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and The Stanley Center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Virtual Reality Installation/Oculus Rift
The virtual reality is juxtaposed with Eliot Porter's Intimate Landscapes Portfolio from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection.