The piece, a 51 by 11 foot wall mural, is visible through the windows of the building on Main Street, Cambridge.
"Signals" shows signals between proteins in a cancer cell. In any cell, behavior is set by a network of proteins transmitting instructions to one another. In a cancer cell, these instructions are disturbed. "Signals" shows how a message sent between networked proteins change over time. Each circle represents a signal from one protein to another. The size of the circle correlates with the strength of each signal.
“Signals” is derived from proteins in a cancer cell. The piece is meant to reflect the research in building 76, but to paraphrase exhibition developer Alex Fiorentino:
“We wanted something that didn’t scare people.”
Fathom's designer Katy Harris and exhibition developer Alex Fiorentino checking out "Signals" at building 76's Public Gallery, which is open between 9-5pm at 500 Main Street:
This is what the original charts and graphs looked like:
Watch the process of sketches:
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