AFFINITIES
A new public art sculpture for the Bioscience and Health Careers Center
at North Hennepin Community College
By Artist Blessing Hancock | www.blessinghancock.com
We invite you to contribute words and phrases on the themes of
scientific discovery and learning.
Select text will be incorporated into the artwork.
prokaryotes • redox • evolution • fungi
Email contributions and questions to Jennifer at [email protected] by March 6, 2015.
Students, staff, and community members are encouraged to participate.
Participation is free and all contributions will be anonymous.
Ben Owen, Percent for Art Program Officer, Minnesota State Arts Board
AFFINITIES
Affinities is a vibrant, interactive sculpture that will glide along the second floor curtain wall at the new
Bioscience and Health Careers Center. Consisting of a series of movable panels, the artwork will highlight
connections between the many Bioscience and Health career paths by displaying a customizable ‘network
of associations’ related to the various fields of study.
The artwork title, Affinities, draws on the similitude and correspondence of the educational system as
a whole. From the Latin, affinis (connected with), ‘affinity’ is defined as a spontaneous, natural liking or
sympathy for someone or something. In biological terms, affinity refers to a similarity of characteristics or a
resemblance in structure between animals and plants. And in chemistry a chemical affinity is an attraction
that results in the formation of molecules from atoms. The surface pattern of the artwork is an overlay of a
Delaunay triangulation with a Voronoi diagram. These two computational geometries can be found in both
biological and chemical processes.
Help us (and be able to see your chosen words become part of the artwork) by sending us words or
phrases that relate to the themes of scientific discovery and learning.