Exploring the Invisible

GAMBIER, Ohio (June 21, 2006) When Annie Lambla, Class of 2007, decided to design a synoptic major in museum studies and material culture, she never imagined she'd be evaluating the driving habits of taxicabs in San Francisco. But that's what Lambla ended up doing as part of an internship at San Francisco's Exploratorium museum last summer.

The end result? Lambla's work has been accepted for publication in the prestigious scholarly journal Leonardo. "It's very unusual for students to publish in a journal of the stature of Leonardo," says Peter Richards, senior artist at the Exploratorium. A journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology, Leonardo will feature Lambla's research as part of a special issue dedicated to the Pacific Rim New Media Summit, which will be held in San Jose, California, August 7 and 8.

Lambla's study, part of a grant-sponsored project called Invisible Dynamics, attempts to describe "systems," such as taxi routes and wireless Internet hotspots, that surround us but remain unseen. Her job was to observe the various interdisciplinary projects being funded through Invisible Dynamics and to evaluate the project as a whole.

Her paper, titled "The Exploratorium's Invisible Dynamics Project: Environmental Research as Artistic Process," draws together the interdisciplinary aspects of Invisible Dynamics under one useful focus: map-making. "Although not necessarily an obligatory part of the project," Lambla explains, "mapping is in reality a relevant and interesting connection between all of the individual Invisible Dynamics projects."

"I don't know where this will lead me," admits Lambla, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina. "I don't even know what I want my future career to be -- but I am grateful for such a priceless experience with the Exploratorium."