Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/LEON_a_00321 by guest on 27 September 2021 artists’ article on ti The Tree, the Spiral and the l connec tia Web of Life: A Visual Exploration en of Biological Evolution for ss a b s t r a c t Public Murals he authors created the Spiral T ence: The e I of Life as a new, accessible c symbol for the evolution of life. ts r This novel visual interpreta- A tion of evolution challenges Joana Ricou and traditional tenets of the field in light of emerging new themes John Archie Pollock in research. The Spiral brings recent principles to the general public and also provides scien- tists with a new visual concept to support further discussion. ur science outreach work constantly reveals the case, because Ricou is an artist The Spiral emerged from the O combination of the analysis of the growing disconnect between the current state of science trained in cellular biology and ge- the latest scientific research and the general public’s understanding of fundamental prin- netics and Pollock is a physicist/ with an artistic process to ciples of science. In keeping with what C.P. Snow observed in biology researcher with a second- create new images and icons. A Two Cultures [1] and a recent National Academy of Sciences ary career in science visualization resulting complementary series report highlighted [2], this disconnect has had a profound, and education. Both artistic and of artworks was installed in five cultural institutions and muse- pervasive and negative impact on science education, public scientific opinions contributed to ums in Pittsburgh, PA. policy and health in the United States. the making of this project, with a Evolution struck us as an interesting topic within which to concern for the general accessibility address this divide. The coincidence of Charles Darwin’s 200th of the science. The decision-making birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On process was guided by the tug-of- the Origin of Species in 2009 was the impetus for a worldwide war between the scientific point of view that resists generaliza- movement that promoted awareness of evolution and spurred tion and the artistic point of view that is traditionally more our own efforts. The dialogue surrounding this topic is obfus- concerned with the big picture. As Goodsell and Johnson sug- cated by the cultural debate that still rages over the validity of gest [4], artistic license allows selective disclosure, purposeful the science in this area and the lack of understanding of the distortion of scale or perspective and simplification, among relevance that evolution has to everyday life. Communicating other tools, to serve the goal of clarifying a bigger picture and the principle of common descent and evolutionary relation- exciting interest. The artist is willing to incorporate what is ship of all living things was also interesting to us because the known and create a visual hypothesis of what is not certain, subject is currently actively researched by scientists, who still while the scientist in both of us reached for exacting content see defining over-arching principles as a significant challenge. based on the modern molecular genetic data in the published Visualization is a part of evolutionary research. Different scientific literature. diagrams are created depending on the specific point of view, Given the pace of research on evolution, we are aware that intellectual framework, data sets and other constraints. While any images committed to paper today will become outdated scientific visualizations must not allow for “artistic license,” in a few short years. Nonetheless, there is a need for a sym- they always have an aesthetic component [3]. Since the cur- bol that captures and clarifies the principles currently under rent research into evolution still has many questions to ad- discussion. We needed a symbol that would be accessible to dress, and the way that the data is visualized is important to the general public and have the potential to serve as a men- data interpretation, we find that image explorations can con- tal framework for researchers to model, anticipate and hypo- tribute both as support for visualization and as propositions. thesize with. These characteristics make evolution promising territory for The first step in our creative process was to review the a fruitful art-and-science collaboration. current scientific literature, news articles, imagery and web The traditional split between the roles of the scientist and resources. In this process we considered over 84 different pri- the artist is harder to define in our collaboration than is often mary sources, texts and web projects [5]. The primary research data we collected had unsettled, changing and/or contradic- tory aspects. We resolved individual conflicts by consulting a Joana Ricou (artist), 631 Grand Street, Floor 4, Brooklyn, NY 11211, U.S.A. E-mail: panel of experts (listed in this paper’s acknowledgments). For <[email protected]>. example, opinions on the branching pattern and the dates of John Archie Pollock (scientist, educator), Department of Biological Sciences, 222 Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, U.S.A. E-mail: <[email protected]>. the branching in bacteria are not settled. Different evidence See <www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/leon/45/1> for supplemental files associated with this points lead to conflicting answers. We based our project on issue. the dates provided in Madigan and Martinko’s 11th edition of Brock Microbiology of Microorganisms [6], with guidance from article Frontispiece. Spiral of Life III: Animal Evolution, digital art on John Stolz of Duquesne University. We collected data simulta- vinyl, 18 × 10 ft, 2009, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG aquarium. this piece neously with spreadsheets and diagrams and subjected both focuses on the animal kingdom. (© Joana ricou and John Pollock) to feedback from our scientific advisors. ©2012 ISAST LEONARDO, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 18–25, 2012 19 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/LEON_a_00321 by guest on 27 September 2021 on ti organisms appear similar in size, to fur- ther communicate their evolutionary equality. A “future” ring tantalizes the imagination and serves as a reminder l connec tia that evolution is ongoing. Through an en iterative process, we combined a logical ss organization of the visual space with the constraints of multiple discrete branches and enormous time (see “Collapsing Time” below). In this way, a spiral shape ence: The e I emerged at the center of our image, em- Sc phasizing the connection between the T Ar evolution of all major taxa. This shape became the heart of our reconceptual- ization of evolution as the Spiral of Life (Color Plate A). From Spiral To Web The idea that many natural and human processes are best represented as a col- lection of linked entities or network has achieved significant prominence in the Fig. 1. (digitally enhanced) (a, left) First evolutionary tree drawn by charles Darwin in his cultural and scientific zeitgeist in recent Notebook b in 1837 (public domain). For Darwin, the tree described the relationships years. It should come as no surprise that between groups of organisms, revealing that all species are related through common ances- evolutionary biology is also participating try and that they change over time. (b, right) Evolution of Man—Pedigree of Man Plate XV by in this conceptual revolution. Scientists Haeckel, 1879 (public domain). Within a decade of Darwin’s publication of The Origin of Spe- cies, ernst Haeckel had drafted multiple views of evolutionary trees, which typically placed now recognize that “horizontal transfer,” humans as the most evolved species. processes that violate the strictly tree-like flow of genetic information proposed by Darwin, have been contributing to evolu- tion over the millennia [14] (Fig. 3). The Tree The CirCle Traditional cladograms represent While Charles Darwin was not the first to Historically, a circular design has also “vertical” processes and refer to the pas- use a tree structure to organize living or- been used to represent the organization sage of genetic material from a parent ganisms, the “tree of life” he drew in 1837 of the natural world and has inspired generation to an offspring generation. became an icon and cognitive model for more recent evolutionary diagrams that We found that there is another type of evolution (Fig. 1a) and is recognizable are radial or circular [10] (Fig. 2). The process, “horizontal,” that plays an im- in modern cladograms. His model es- radial diagrams include the branching portant role in evolution. Horizontal tablished that all species are related by pattern but place the origin of the dia- transfer occurs when genetic informa- common descent (common root) and gram at the center, unequivocally con- tion gets passed from one individual to that they diversified (ramification). The noting a common origin. An example of another not through reproduction but length of the branches can signify time this type is the interactive Tree of Life by a virus, transposable elements [15] or evolutionary difference. As decades [11]. However, this type of geometry is or other means, and this information passed by, the popularized interpretation the least represented in sites to which the is passed on to progeny. The existence of this revolutionary image accumulated general public has ready access, such as of horizontal processes means that evo- misconceptions: for example, that evolu- in museums (less than 10% in a sample lution can occur during the lifetime of tion is a linear, vertical process and that of 112) [12]. an organism, which is an idea closer all of life descends from a single common to Lamarck’s theories than Darwin’s. ancestor and culminated in the human There is a consensus that these pro- species (as shown in Fig.