Softening Hard Science

• In Event: Critical Karaoke

Abstract

I will comment over a silent version of Powers of Ten, the 1977 IBM-commissioned Eames film exploring outer and inner space, to speak to the emergence of “big data” visualization and the TED franchise’s popularization of market-friendly knowledge through short, slick, and spreadable videos. As the Eames film zooms out, I’ll pose critical questions about public access to research and the risk of counter-hegemonic readings in an era when hard science sputters in the wake of faith-based resistance to theories of evolution and climate change. As the film zooms in, I will suggest that the softer science of communication is ideally positioned to create and distribute critical research in equally popular forms. I will conclude that Powers of Ten, in the tradition of Stuart Hall, offers a strong qualitative critique of how our understanding of the world’s problems, and solutions, depends upon where and how close we look.

Chris Boulton is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Tampa, where he teaches critical media studies and documentary production and conducts research on race and class in the creative industries. Before his academic career, he was a member of the production team for Mister Rogers, then wrote and produced for the Travel Channel, Court TV, and a range of youth media projects. He has also contributed at MEF, the Media Education Foundation.

Author

• Christopher Boulton, University of Tampa