Recently, the Best Scientific Images of 2011 were revealed on the television show Découverte on Radio-Canada. The image submitted by the team of Étienne Saint-Amant, Gabriel Girard and

Maxime Descoteaux took third place in the Jury Prize and the Public Choice Award in its field « La preuve par l’image », an event organized by ACFAS. This winning image represents an axonal network interconnecting different regions of the brain.

“In 2010, I agreed to undergo the most precise medical examination but also the longest; 1 hour 45 minutes lying motionless in a MRI tunnel, yet a sacrifice which proved useful in my scientific research ... Recently, I decided to produce a white matter tractography of my brain from the data. My goal was to make the richest image of medical tractography and mathematically transform it to create a work of art under the theme of cybernetics”, explained Étienne Saint-Amant.

Awareness of the implications of chaotic mechanisms is predominant, in his personal view of nature. For Saint-Amant, Chaos is the total causality of deterministic events. It is important to not only see the instability and disorder of chaos but to see its real power as a creative and evolutionary force. By making models of these mechanisms, we can interpret and analyze such phenomena as galaxy formation, the evolution of life and the development of societies. His artistic vision is strongly influenced by this view.

The technique he uses stems from avant-garde scientific concepts but also rests on several classical principles. He is profoundly interested in mathematics, having been trained as an image scientist and computer programmer. He creates his style, techniques and tools guided by scientific principles all throughout the process. He, customarily, uses the chaos theory, complex analysis, fractal geometry, Brownian motion and imagery techniques. It is with these tools and this knowledge that mathematical formulae spring to life and become his artwork.

Each one of his pieces is the end result of a long process that has brought together all of these elements. In this world, the challenge is great because everything is indirect and abstract: ‘he plays with mathematics’ in order to achieve the right notes, the right feelings, the right energy. He invites you to enjoy this ride through the tumult of chaos because such chaos is always full of surprises.

At the beginning of October, Saint-Amant unveiled his newest major work of art “ARMADA” which is added to his original series Scènes.

For more info: http://www.chaoscopia.com/nouveautes_en.html