In 2001, I went to the International Sculpture Center conference in Pittsburgh,PA with the theme, Performance and Technology. www.sculpture.org

While there, I learned about fluorescing genes and interactive video installations, witnessed people harnessed to bungees that were rigged to computers in Europe to effect their movement and sound.  Many of the panels tried to answer thorny questions: "why does changing the gene to make one moth's wing different colors than the other wing fall under the classification of art and not science?"

The artists were merging many technologies, concepts, materials, and disciplines.  Some of the work seemed to be more of a scientific experiment than a piece of art.  So much seemed to depend upon view point and the motivating intention behind the exploration.   At the end of the conference, I was aware that words may help to articulate meaning, but they can also block interaction across fields that are ready for elastic, permeable barriers.   In our effort to verbally communicate, we sometimes forget that there may not be the words to describe subtle experiences and expressions. It takes a more holistic approach to the world to see how everything is interconnected.

As I stepped off the airport shuttle, a woman I had been talking with about all the amazing things we had seen and heard told me to check out asci, "It has all these people coming together to discuss how the arts and sciences can collaborate."

Now, eight years later, I see how much I have been influenced by that conference and how much it helped me to recognize that creativity and art do not need to be limited by a medium.  It is about process more than a predetermined object or outcome.  I think that artists and scientists both have this as an essential element. 

A few months ago, Cynthia Pannucci, founder and director of ASCI, asked if I would like to be a featured member. Of course! Here's another amazing thing that has happened to me since becoming a TED Fellow!!