Projects
Microscopes in Mullumbimby
Exhibitions / Workshops
SFN Northern Rivers (Jacqui Smith in collaboration with Frauke Huhn) created a Microscope Drawing Laboratory in Mullumbimby in the October school holidays, where the ‘invisible’ world was explored as inspiration for art making. Comprised of a series of interdisciplinary … Continued
Launching The Invisible War
Exhibitions / Symbiosis Storytelling
Mission to launch The Invisible War: Accomplished! The Royal Society of Victoria hosted our action-packed launch of The Invisible War – featuring: former Victorian premier Ted Bailieu (chair of the ANZAC centenary committee); ABC Science Show host Robyn Williams as … Continued
Regional Arts Victoria Tour: The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon
Symbiosis Storytelling / Workshops
Small Friends Books toured across Victoria, reading The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon to hundreds of primary school children.
Rights for the Reef: All Ages workshop
Symbiosis Storytelling / Workshops
The Small Friends Books team explored the complex science and contested legal status of coral…
The Invisible War: School Testing
Research / Symbiosis Storytelling
As a part of our preparation of The Invisible War, Briony, Gregory and Ailsa ventured out to school classrooms around Victoria to see what children thought about our new graphic novel. Through a combination of formal questionnaires and informal conversation, … Continued
Symbiosis Storytelling at ArtPlay
Symbiosis Storytelling / Workshops
Over two successive Sundays at ArtPlay in May, the Small Friends team facilitated workshops around The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon. Parents and children were first captivated by writer Ailsa Wild, who narrated her story. Then Ailsa, Briony, Gregory … Continued
Microscopic Metropoles
Research
During our visit to Western Australia, we visited Yalgorup National Park. The name Yalgorup is derived from the Nyoongar words yalgor, meaning ‘a swamp or lake’ and up, meaning ‘a place of’. While most people visit Yalgorup to see the … Continued
Ipswich Art Gallery – Microscope Drawing Lab
Workshops
Ipswich Art Gallery invited Scale Free Network back to facilitate three weeks of Microscope Drawing Workshops in their fantastic children’s gallery. Jacqui and Gregory delivered workshops to 30 school class groups during the 3 week residency, following from a similar … Continued
Zobi and the Zoox at World Science Festival Brisbane
Performance
World Science Festival Brisbane hosted Scale Free Network’s presentation of Zobi and the Zoox in the Festival Lab, as a part of the weekend extravaganza of Street Science activities. Ailsa Wild delivered a narration-only performance of our coral symbiosis story … Continued
Bubble-ology at World Science Festival Brisbane
Participatory Installation / Performance
The good folks at World Science Festival Brisbane invited Scale Free Network to create a participatory art-science installation – featuring gigantic bubbles! Jacqui Smith and Gert Geyer stepped up to create some of the most stunning bubbles we’ve ever seen…in … Continued
Little Laboratory at Joey Club Brisbane
Exhibitions / Participatory Installation / Research
Scale Free Network were artists-in-residence at the Joey Club Brisbane, working with early childhood educators to create the Little Laboratory, an art-science space for children’s discovery, investigation and creativity. Small groups of children, aged 3 to 5, focused on close looking, shared wonder, beauty in … Continued
Microscope Drawing at the Mullumbimby Drill Hall
Workshops
Eleven children participated in a school holiday Microscope Drawing workshop where found objects were investigated to produce drawings and watercolour paintings. The Drill Hall in Mullumbimby was the venue for the session, which also introduced collaborative and overhead projector drawing … Continued
Microscope Drawing at Mullumbimby Library
Workshops
The Mullumbimby Library (part of the Richmond Tweed Regional Library Service) hosted a Microscope Drawing session for children as part of their school holiday program. Tables were set up in the library with microscopes and specimens, and an enthusiastic group … Continued
Art Vs Science Festival – Molecular Sculpture
Participatory Installation
Scale Free Network’s Molecular Sculpture activity was part of the Art Vs Science Festival, one-day science, art and music festival at the Lismore City Hall organised by The Northern Rivers Science Hub from Southern Cross University as a part of a National … Continued
Art-Science Lab at St John’s Primary School
Workshops
Jacqui set up an Art-Science Laboratory at St John’s Primary School in Mullumbimby during National Science Week 2015. The series of workshops was presented grades 3-4 and 5-6 with the assistance of teacher Tracy Taitoko. It was a busy day … Continued
Microscope Drawing at Mullum NAIDOC Fun Day
Participatory Installation
SFN’s NSW Branch is Launched! SFN’s Jacqui Smith facilitated Microscope Drawing at this year’s NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week Family Fun Day at the Mullumbimby Neighbourhood Centre. This was the first Scale Free Network (NSW branch) … Continued
International Symbiosis Society – conference in Lisbon
Research / Symbiosis Storytelling
We had an amazing week at the International Symbiosis Society (ISS) conference in Lisbon, Portugal! Each day featured non-stop learning about different symbiotic partnerships, with posters and presentations from a broad range of scientists – such as chemists, microbiologists, entomologists, … Continued
Zobi and the Zoox Book Launch
Exhibitions / Participatory Installation / Symbiosis Storytelling
We celebrated the publication of our new book, Zobi and the Zoox, in a art-science themed evening of activities on Friday March 13th at ArtPlay. The book was officially launched by Jane Sullivan, literary journalist for The Age and the … Continued
The Invisible Torrens
Workshops
Every two years, Adelaide hosts the Come Out Festival – one of Australia’s longest-running arts festivals for children. Curated this year by Susannah Sweeney, Scale Free Network was invited to create a series of art-science workshops, focusing on the River … Continued
Drawing Water – school workshops with Regional Arts Victoria
Research / Workshops
Drawing Water workshops brings together science and art techniques to represent local water and explore water ecology health, led by microbial ecologist Dr. Gregory Crocetti and visual artist Aviva Reed. First, school students are taken to a local water body … Continued
The Invisible War
Symbiosis Storytelling
The Invisible War is an illustrated science-history graphic novel for young adults set in WWI. It follows in the footsteps of graphic novels such as Maus, Persepolis and The Terrorist, but with a unique, scientific lens, narrated at both the … Continued