'Polarizing Attention' is an exploratory workshop on Drawing under the microscope. It brings together Fine Arts and Biochemistry students from the University of Porto around biological samples prepared with the tano-ferric method by the Portuguese scientist Abel Salazar.
The goal is to identify and explore observation and visualization practices under the microscope in students with different backgrounds in art and STEM areas. By creating modes of interaction between student scientists and artists, the workshop aims to empower students to create their own visual representations, instead of relying their observation and study on pre-existing visual models.
Microscopic drawing, based on the histological drawing method described by Abel Salazar, is understood as a form of reasoning requiring a process of translation between visual models.
This workshop is part of the research project ‘DRAWinU – Drawing Across University Borders’ (i2ADS-FBAUP) and the Colloquium ‘Transits, Marks, Representations and the Golgi’, based on the work of scientist Abel Salazar (ICBAS).
