F
k
May 09, 2011
Katy Sees a Protein
Ben and Casey Reas made an art piece called “Signals” for building 76 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT):

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:

We’d love to hear what you’re working on, what you’re intrigued by, and what messy data problems we can help you solve. Find us on the web, drop us a line at hello@fathom.info, or subscribe to our newsletter.