Unweaving the Rainbow: exploring colour with art and synchrotron radiation

该项目旨在让公众参与谢菲尔德小组使用STFC支持的中心设施（特别是同步辐射）产生的科学，以探索鸟类羽毛和蝴蝶翅膀等生物结构中结构颜色的起源。该提案将具有长期成功使用STFC设施记录的科学家与已经在多个不同领域（特别是在学校工作）拥有杰出公众参与研究记录的执业艺术家聚集在一起。该项目将通过将艺术和科学观众聚集在一起，并让来自南约克郡学校的一群小学晚期和中学早期的学生参与进来，显著地发展和加强科学资本。主要特点:我)。科学主题提供了一种不同的、新颖的方式来吸引观众，通过采用非常熟悉的概念——颜色的概念，以及我们对色彩鲜艳的鸟类和昆虫的经验——并说明我们强大的新技术，如同步辐射散射和纳米断层扫描，如何将这些与迄今为止看不见的纳米级世界联系起来。艺术家和诗人的参与为科学实践的本质提供了意想不到的见解。项目的重点将放在南约克郡和其他地方现有科学资本水平较低的观众身上，包括4所当地学校。通过这种积极的参与过程，我们的观众将对光的复杂本质有更全面的了解——通过吸收、反射和折射，颜色是如何被感知的。该项目还将通过探索和解释STFC设施如何打开正常人类体验之外的长度尺度，进一步了解“非常小”和“非常大”领域发生的事情。这些目标将主要通过我们的巡回活动计划来实现，该计划基于保罗·埃文斯最近作为驻场艺术家研究的新作品和现有作品的“弹出式作品集”，以及基于谢菲尔德大学科学家在欧洲同步加速器研究机构（ESRF）， ISIS和RAL进行的实验图像的新作品。作品集中展示的大部分艺术作品主要基于光子结构，将通过南约克郡学校的创意研讨会/发现日的推广计划进行创作，该计划将由项目艺术家Paul Evans和谢菲尔德大学的科学家设计和领导。这一创新和引人入胜的活动方案将包括蒙眼绘画/ 3d打印建模、面向年轻学生的数字着色活动、创意写作、基于艺术家在ESRF观察到的抽样程序的灵巧性测试/游戏，以及目前正在ISIS和RAL进行的前沿研究。在这些研讨会期间，年轻人创作的艺术作品也将通过“科学之美”——ESRF的同步加速器研究科学图像在线画廊：http://www.esrf.eu/home/news/beauty-of-science.html以及来自Diamond和isiss的类似材料，作品集和交付团队将促进其相关活动，将在2017年秋冬期间在英格兰北部的一些场地/活动中巡回演出。该项目将由谢菲尔德大学公众参与和影响团队全程支持。

This project aims to engage the public with the science emerging from the Sheffield group's use of STFC supported central facilities - particularly synchrotron radiation - to probe the origins of structural colour in biological structures such as bird feathers and butterfly wings. The proposal brings together scientists with a long record of successful use of STFC facilities with a practising artist who already has an existing outstanding track record of public engagement with research in a number of different fields, especially working in schools. The project will significantly develop and enhance science capital by drawing together arts and science audiences and by involving a cohort of late primary and early secondary pupils from South Yorkshire schools.Key features:i.) The science topic offers a different and novel way of engaging audiences by taking very familiar concepts - the notion of colour, and our experience of brightly coloured birds and insects - and illustrating how our powerful new techniques like synchrotron radiation scattering and nano-tomography can relate those to the hitherto unseen nanoscale world.ii.) Engagement of artists and poets gives unexpected insights into the nature of scientific practiseiii.) The focus will be on audiences with low existing levels of science capital, in South Yorkshire and elsewhere, including a cohort of 4 local schoolsThrough this active process of engagement our audiences will gain a fuller understanding of the complex nature of light - how colour is perceived though absorption reflection and refraction. The project will also further understanding of what happens in the realm of the 'very small' and the 'very big', through the exploration and explanation of how STFC facilities open up access to length scales outside normal human experience.These aims will primarily be achieved through our touring event programme based on a 'pop-up portfolio' of new and existing works based on Paul Evans' recent work as artist in residence research - and new work based on images from experiments undertaken by The University of Sheffield scientists at the European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF), ISIS and RAL. Much of the artwork to be displayed in the portfolio, primarily based on photonic structures, will be created through an outreach programme of creative workshops/discovery days for South Yorkshire schools that will be devised and led by the project artist Paul Evans along with University of Sheffield scientists. This innovative and engaging programme of activities will include blindfold drawing/modelling of 3d prints, colour by numbers activities for younger students, creative writing, and dexterity tests/games based on sampling procedures that the artist observed at the ESRF and cutting edge research that is currently being undertaken at ISIS and RAL.Art created by the young people during these workshops will also be informed by 'The Beauty of Science' - ESRF's online gallery of scientific images from synchrotron research: http://www.esrf.eu/home/news/beauty-of-science.html and similar material from Diamond and ISISThe portfolio, and the delivery team that will facilitate its associated activities, will tour a number of venues/events throughout the north of England during Autumn/Winter 2017. The project will be supported throughout by the University of Sheffield Public Engagement and Impact Team.