The Art of Magnetism

The fast-paced world of research and the frequent movement and relocation of the researchers themselves are essential components of scientific culture. Thus, for the general public who are not immersed in this culture, it can be easy to miss the emergence of new research topics and the current work of local research projects. Through the FWF START-project, Bridging Scales in Dipolar Soft Matter, Dr. Sofia Kantorovich has established a new research group at the University of Viennas Faculty of Physics. The initiative, The Art of Magnetism, aims to bring the Kantorovich-groups exciting and cutting-edge research of dipolar soft matter to a wider audience, using an innovative approach to highlight the research activities taking place in Vienna. The Art of Magnetism will take advantage of Viennas cultural and artistic traditions, as it is specifically designed to use art as a means of communicating the groups research to the widest possible audience. With the aid of scientists and artists, the public can take part in creative activities that will make the soft matter research more interesting and accessible, as it is often approached with caution due to its computer-based nature. The project will be developed with the help of representatives of various target groups, whose input will allow us to adapt the programme to suit each audience during the running time of The Art of Magnetism. We will produce an interactive exhibition and a series of public participation workshops, in which various target groups will have face-to-face contact with scientists and artists, as well as a project-specific website that will document and communicate the science and art explored during the exhibition. The exhibition and activities will be designed to communicate the basic principles of dipolar soft matter and the potential applications of the research in a comprehensive and accessible way. During the workshops, the applicant and members of her research group will, alongside artists and representatives of the target audiences, develop exhibits and activities such as Painting with Magnets, Sculpture with Magnetic Ball-Bearings and Drawing with Ferrofluids. The participants will benefit from the combination of the scientific expertise of the applicant with the artistic knowledge of the co-applicant, Michaela McCaffrey, innovatively presenting the Kantorovich-groups cutting-edge scientific research.

The Art of Magnetism was aiming at bringing the exciting and cutting-edge research on dipolar soft matter, carried out in the framework of FWF START Project Bridging Scales in Dipolar Soft Matter, to a wider audience. The Art of Magnetism took the advantage of Viennas cultural and artistic traditions to make the soft matter research more interesting and accessible through exhibitions, workshops and public lectures organized in collaboration with artists.Events organized with in the project can be divided in three groups: public lectures/workshops for children and youth; exhibitions and educational events for adults. The first group of events was organized to develop curiosity in children of different age/gender/nationality/background about magnetic materials and scientific approaches. For this, the collaboration of artists helped us to make the vents picturesque and eye-catching. Besides that, the presence of artists non-specialists in computational physics facilitated the dialogue between pupils and scientists. Participation in various exhibitions allowed the project to reach a different level of visibility. With the help of artists, ferrofluid samples were converted to interactive artworks. Thus, the visitors could come and learn about magnetic soft materials through simple touch. This way, Academia made a step forward to be understood and accepted as an important part of the modern society by people with non-scientific background. Additionally, we aimed at showing that science is cosmopolitan and gender- independent, as the group involved was very international and contained a lot of female scientists and even their children. The third group of the events had a different emphasis, it was to explain the importance of computational physics and the part of soft matter research in the everyday life, medicine, pharmacology and food production. For that, the collaboration with artists again served to impressively improve the communication means.The events for youth and children were FIT Frauen in die Technik on the 30.01.2017 (female students from the age of 15); UniClub plus workshop on the 16.12.2016 (young refugees 12-19 years old); public lecture at Schopenhauer Realgymnasium in the 18th district of Vienna on the 28.11.2016 (school children of an average age of 16). The exhibitions were The International Science Centre and Science Museum Day (ISCSMD) on the 10.11.2016 and at Ecsite annual conference evening event the Nocturne at the Joanneum Quarter inside the Natural History Museum of Graz 10.06.2016. Finally, the third group of events was composed by an event Science4People at Monk in Rome on the 04.09.2016 and by the lecture on the 24.02.2017 within the Plus Lucis Fortbildungswoche 2017 | Excursion for teachers in Physics and Chemistry.