Pursuit and Decay
by Laurie Kaplowitz & Jennifer Kenyon
Above: “Climate Change” — Laurie Kaplowitz
Pursuit and Decay is a graphic story depicting the journey of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean.
MEDIUM
Acrylic paint
PIECES
Thirteen paintings
TOPIC
Following the movement of carbon in the ocean
LOCATION
Global
"Radioactivity" — Laurie Kaplowitz
"Binocular Vision" — Laurie Kaplowitz
"Phytoplankton Notebook" — Laurie Kaplowitz
"Thorium" — Laurie Kaplowitz
view the finished book on issuu
Carbon & Radioactvitity
The story is told through the eyes of an ocean scientist who uses an unusual tool in order to study the journey of carbon throughout the ocean: radioactivity. Radioactive elements, such as thorium, can effectively “stick” to carbon particles. Since radioactive elements decay, they can leave behind a time signature that scientists can use to determine where and how fast carbon particles are moving in the ocean. The ocean is the planet's natural carbon storage unit, and learning more about how the ocean stores carbon will help us better understand the ocean's role in mitigating climate change as more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.
Making Art from Science
“Carbon and Thorium” — Laurie Kaplowitz
Powerful natural forces such as the carbon cycle and radioactivity are not clearly visual, so we use “personification” as a means to create memorable visual imagery to tell the story. For example, Carbon is a juggler in a snow globe, endlessly circulating carbon particles in a closed system. Radioactivity is represented by mechanical hands that grip a hammer and chisel and chip away at particles, conveying the idea of endless decay. Thorium is a timekeeper, irradiated, like a photo-negative, jotting equations, swinging a timepiece by the chain. And so forth. The color palette of the entire work is black and white and all the grays in between because there is no light, and therefore, no color in the deep ocean. The unifying motif is the circle (or 3D sphere). It is employed throughout to design and organize the compositions.
Behind the scenes
This video provides an inside peek into the making of Pursuit and Decay. Hear how Laurie describes the process of translating the science of carbon’s elemental journey into an illustrated story.
What’s Next?
Presently, the project is being rounded out with final images and is being formatted for physical book binding. In the future, and in a post-pandemic world, it is our hope that the graphic story is distributed to classrooms and educational environments as a learning tool.
Laurie & Jennifer
To find out more about the artist and scientist who are behind this project, visit their section of the Artists & Scientists page via the link below.