PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE BECOMES OUR MEME: THE MARRIAGE OF THE SCIENTIST AND ARTIST CREATES INTERVIEWS WITH PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE

COLLABORATIVE WORK FROM THE MARRIAGE OF THE SCIENTIST AND ARTIST

 COLLABORATION OF A SCIENTIST AND AN ARTIST.  In 2011,  my Chiboogamoo and I collaborated on the five blogs you see below. I gave Chiboogamoo Paleontologist Barbie for Christmas 2010, and since then she has joined him/us on our investigative adventures into paleontology and geology. Another interview with Paleontologist Babie is forthcoming on bike ichnology at Jekyll Island, Georgia. 

PALEONTOLOGIST ON SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS

Paleontologist Barbie Willingly Sacrifices Her Winter Holiday to Deepen Emory Students Understanding of the Concepts of Uniformitarianism on San Salvador, Bahamas at Gerace Field Station. 

Chiboogamoo and I bring Paleontologist Barbie with us out in the field to lead the students into challenging situations so they could learn about modern and ancient environments.

CHIBOOGAMOO (aka Anthony Martin) San Salvador, Bahamas, December  2011 (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Paleontologist Barbie Pursues Professional Development at 2011 Society of Vertebrate Paleontologist (SVP) Meeting in Las Vegas, Utah, USA. 

Paleontologist Barbie sees exciting tracks and a really cool dinosaur sitting trace in addition to exchanging knowledge with fellow colleague paleontologists. "Professional development is more important than Halloween parties," Paleontologist Barbie was heard saying out in the Utah desert.

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE DANCES WITH A DINOSAUR. After three days on the field trip Paleontologist Barbie finally meets one of the trackmakers, Dilophosaurus. “How cool – you’re one of my favorite dinosaurs! Would you like to dance?” she asks cordially. Of course, when Paleontologist Barbie dances, she always leads. And that’s because she’s a natural-born leader.(photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

Paleontologist Barbie's Passion for Modern and Ancient Traces

Paleontologist Barbie goes to St. Catherines Island to examine reptile burrows.

INVESTIGATING ALLIGATOR DENS. Paleontologist Barbie, in a quest to better understand the fossil record of reptiles, decides to investigate some of the traces made modern alligators and sea turtles on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. “Why not take on the biggest and most dangerous reptiles first?” she asks, while checking out an alligator-den entrance.(photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

Paleontologist Barbie's Gleeful Discussion of Evolution, Darwin, and Science-Related Art

Paleontologist Barbie explains her understanding of evolution by looking at the "Selections" art exhibit at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia. Specifically, she provides her interpretation of the importance of art done by Chiboogamoo and Hallelujah Truth.

DARWIN, PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE, HALLELUJAH TRUTH.(photo and caption by Anthony Martin)  

Paleontologist Barbie's Raison D'etre: Scientific Investigation and a Passion for Art!

This is the first interview with Paleontologist Barbie! It is a must read!

SERVING AS A ROLE MODEL: While in Melbourne, Victoria, it was time for Paleontologist Barbie to examine some fossils and fossil replicas in Museum Victoria. “Looks like a skull cast of Dorudon, an early whale from the Eocene Epoch!” Here she looks at the spacing between the teeth toward the front of the skull. “This is the sort of functional morphology that can provide more than a few insights on its diet,” she assures us. Who could dispute her? Paleontologist Barbie, while investigating bite forces in Dorudon, demonstrates yet again why she is the honey badger of paleontologists, totally fearless and unstoppable in her pursuit of scientific knowledge. (Photo and Caption by Chiboogamoo)

WE ARE PASSING ON MEMES, NOT GENES!

Creative Update (by the PaleoPoet)

The PaleoPoet, partner and co-instigator of creative crimes against normality with Hallelujah Truth, is happy to report that The Meme Studio is making progress on sketching (literally) a plan to laud evolutionary theory through visual art and words. Our working together will result in artworks displayed with those of other artists at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia in September 2011. This art show will coincide with the arrival at Fernbank of a traveling exhibit by the American Museum of Natural History - simply titled Darwin - based on the life and discoveries of Charles Darwin. The concept (whether overarching or undermining) for the art show at Fernbank is to combine the natural sciences and visual art to reflect how Darwin's ideas have changed how we look at and imagine life changing through time. A number of other artists, related to Emory University, will be involved in the show as well.

What will Hallelujah and The PaleoPoet do for their collaborative artworks? Let's just say it will involve iconic animals associated with evolution - trilobites, insects, earthworms, dinosaurs, and fish - and will peer into their lives through the multiple perspectives of artists and scientists, including the evidence these animals left behind in rocks as vestiges of their ancient behaviors. For now, we are planning to use combinations of wood, paper, or canvas to hold the drawings and paintings that come out of us, our own traces of personal expression that we expect will merge into a coherent whole once all is said, done, and passed on to future generations. Hallelujah Truth will provide more insights on the process of this collaboration.

An artistic reconstruction of the Eocene bottom-dwelling fish Notogoneus osculus, placed above its trace fossil, which was made on a lake bottom 50 million years ago in a place we now call Wyoming. Photography by Arvid Aase, and display at Fossil Butte National Monument.