miscommunication

Proteins are composed from a dictionary of building blocks called amino acids strung together into a chain. Interactions between the amino acids, such as hydrogen bonding, dictate the folding of proteins into 𝞫-sheet and 𝞪-helical structures. Much like the structure and grammar of languages, the folded structure gives the protein a function or meaning. The meaning of course is dependent on the context and environment. Protein folding mirrors this situational landscape forming structures informed by genetics and cellular environment.

Linguist Noam Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar hypothesizes that there are “a certain set of structural rules that are innate to humans, independent of sensory experience.” Researchers like Dr. Wong characterize and simulate the folding of proteins attempting to decode a “universal grammar” to the interactions of amino acids within protein chains. Protein folding rules provide a basis for understanding misfolding and the loss of cognitive function in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease.

            In both linguistics and proteins, the whole cannot be understood without the parts and the parts are incoherent without the whole. The principle of compositionality says that “the meaning of a sentence is determined by the meaning of its component parts and the manner in which they are arranged in syntactic structure.” This concept can be applied to these five sculptures and how they coevolve and coexist within their surroundings.

The five pieces are composed of an array of news stories torn-up and reassembled into distorted shapes. The once coherent articles become misfolded creating meaningless stories. Each sculpture incorporates an audio element. The element generates spoken word clusters derived from texts within the sculptures to further this linguistic connection. The word clusters are spoken in three different tones to cultivate a different emotional context within the participant. A Monte Carlo algorithm randomly sequences the spoken intonated words symbolizing the probabilistic nature in which amino acids interact to form hierarchical protein structures. Within this series, the spoken word may become distorted much like the potential for misfolding in proteins.

The connection between linguistics, proteins and art illustrates how frameworks can be applied across disciplines when trying to understand certain health, cultural, socio economic and political issues. Collaborations with multiple disciplines, such as seen in this sculpture (scientist, sound engineer, and artist), illuminates how everything is interdisciplinary and related. This collaboration exhibits the interdisciplinary approach to understanding science, sculpture, and sound all through the lens of proteins. This project would not have been possible without the Georgia Tech student organization, Science.Art.Wonder (S.A.W.).