CAPTURE &RELEASE

Nanotechnology self-cleaning clothes are on the way, RMIT University researchers say 

People could soon be able to replace their washing machines with a little bit of sunshine, thanks to pioneering nanotechnology research being developed by RMIT University researchers.

Key points:

·        Nanostructures which self-clean under light being grown into textiles

·        Only tested on stains and sweat, but tested other difficult organic compounds successfully

·        Copper and silver-based nanostructures tested, known for their ability to absorb visible light

Our theme on women artists continues with highlighting more artist’s books that address issues of feminism. There is lots to choose from on this topic in the Brooklyn Museum Library collection. First up is a textbook on viewing art, The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Art by Robin Kahn. This artist’s book is built on the pages of an old book with a similar title with a decidedly male point of view. It is a very witty take on art history with a 1950’s style overlaid with collages of her own text and images. Kahn is a conceptual artist who has created a comic entrée into the classic text book on art history from a feminist perspective.

!Women Art Revolution, written by Lynn Hershmann Leeson, Alexandra Chowaniec and Spain Rodriguez, draws on episodes in the feminist art movement that were featured in this film. This graphic novel  includes images of women artists documenting their efforts to be included in museum and gallery exhibitions (there is a greatl image of Judy Chicago with her collaborators working on The Dinner Party!). Also included in this book is an interview with Marcia Tucker discussing her job as a curator at the Whitney Museum as well as a curriculum guide and timeline focused on feminist history. This book, donated by the Yvonne Puffer & Sean Elwood Collection of Visual Culture, resonates in our institution that has been committed to showcasing the work of women artists for many years. The first exhibition devoted to the work of a woman artist, Bessie Potter Vonnoh, here at the Brooklyn Museum happened in 1913!

Tiny Creatures Breathe New Life Into a Toxic Waterway

Mar 10, 2016 · by

Alec Hamilton

In 2007, LaGuardia Community College biology professor Dr. Sarah Durand was taking water samples off of a set of steps that lead down into Newtown Creek, when she saw something surprising.

The demands of urban life and industrialization had transformed the once vibrant salt marsh into a polluted channel, toxic enough to be designated as a Superfund site in 2009.

But there, in the partially submerged places along the steps, Durand saw something moving. Tiny planktonic creatures had floated in off the East River and settled in the shallow sediment.

To Durand, that observation was a revelation. The creek — regularly referred to as a “dead waterway” — was able to support life.

Durand says life continues to return, evidence that human engineering can help restore lost communities.

Clearly, efforts to reduce contamination were having an effect. Untreated sewage was still pouring into the creek, but the water was nonetheless cleaner than before. The main problem was that the creatures Durand spotted— ribbed mussels, oysters and clams — lacked a place to grow and reproduce. These invertebrates require gradual sloping sediments, and the banks of Newtown have largely been replaced with concrete bulkhead walls. If the animals would only stick around, she figured, they would even help filter the water themselves.

So Durand set out to build them a habitat.

A hospital chain has found a way of caring for both the young and the old by having them take care of each other – and in the process, built a bridge across generations.

The Intergenerational Learning Center consists of a preschool inside the Mount St. Vincent nursing home in Seattle, Washington. The 400 adults in the assisted-living center join the kids in daily activities from music and dancing to storytelling and just plain visiting.

The Center’s managers say the children learn from their elders and are nurtured by the adults while the invigorated seniors get a new sense of purpose and well-being from the playful tots.