Shared Air
Shared Air
When organist Alex Robson commands the St. John’s College Chapel organ, his hands and feet initiate an intricate mechanical response that conspires to send air from bellows up through relevant pipes.
The organ breathes movement, sound and life into the air of the vast chapel space, as if lungs serving a body in its connection with the atmosphere.
When a component of the organ changes, Alex must compensate to sustain the function of the organ in its entirety.
Although the organ is a complex mechanical instrument, nuances of each organist’s musicianship lend individuality and beauty to the music filling the chapel’s air.
Light streams in through the chapel windows, illuminating the colours of sound. Dr Kate Baker’s research illuminates the experiences of people with rare conditions and their families.
You might notice the faces of 6 young adults with a rare condition, hidden within this drawing. Altogether, we share the same air.
Artist – Donna McLuskie
Donna is a pareidolist – she perceives and draws faces and creatures hidden in inanimate objects and unusual places.
Donna’s pareidolia drawings are award-winning. After 15 years of producing pen and ink skyscraper construction details, she loves the freedom of using the same medium freehand on rough watercolour paper.
Scientist – Dr Kate Baker
Programme Leader, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
DNA variation is not a spanner in the works, or a barricade across a biological pathway. It is a tiny ripple, the effects of which cascade out into molecular interactions, cell physiology, multi-cell architecture, a developing human being and the connections between that person, other people and the world. Ultimately, the waves around that variation adjust and change, creating something new and different beyond DNA.