Biomedical animator and Bjork collaborator. Trained as cell biologist and microscopist.
On working for Bjork:
“I’m just having a lot of fun: that’s the main goal for me – just to let loose and have fun and, as Björk described it, ‘go Jimi Hendrix on biomedical science’.”
From an online interview,”Drew Berry’s Bio-animations,” by Chris Hatherill, Dazed DIgital, published around Dec 11, accessed 3/5/12 by Zvez http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/11179/1/drew-berrys-bio-animations
A video clip on his collaboration with Bjork:
http://blog.reneedicherri.com/post/17193156502/drew-berry-speaking-about-his-work-with-bjork-at
The part on Bjork starts at about 14:30 mins. At 16:00 he shows the whole 6 minute amazing animation he did for the song Hollow.
Lose notes: …Bjork used the program Mathematica, computer hacker, gamers, musicologists…biophilia — love of living things. Bjork wanted “bling dna” …maya is berry’s tool of choice, been using it for 10 years. Homages to Archimboldo (Bjork’s face in her dna) and The Eamses’ Power of X (huge zoom out).
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From bjork.com:
armed with two science degrees and trained in the use of advanced microscopes, drew berry isn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill animator. the creator of bio-inspired animations on biophilia spends his days painstakingly poring over scientific papers before putting virtual pen to paper and recreating the vast worlds that exist within our bodies – microbes fighting infections, parasites replicating, proteins repairing…
his animations have exhibited at venues such as the guggenheim museum, moma, the royal institute of great britain and the university of geneva. in 2010 he received a macarthur fellowship “genius award”.
Berry Tedx (CalTech) talk
Visualziation: Biology and Complex Circuits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPC1MZ-xAu4
Talks about scientific visualization…David Goodsell, scientist who painted scientific illustrations (Scripps Research Institute). Wanted to add motion to the kind of work Goodsell did, to make it more dynamic. Amazing animation of stem cell dynamics. DNA science visualization.
Quote by Berry:
“My approach is the opposite tack to simplifying the science,” says Berry. “Rather than dumbing it down, I set out to show the audience exactly what the scientists are talking about. By building accurate visualizations founded on real scientific data, the animations come alive of their own accord, engage the audience, and go a long way towards explaining what the science is about. The science is rich, detailed and fascinating, and if you can watch it in action you will intuitively get to know how it works.”
– Drew Berry, Drew Berry Biomedical Animator, by By Paul Hellard, 24 October 2005, CG Society, an online publication, accessed 3/5/12 by Zvez http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/biomedical_animator