College of Science researchers highlight AI, clean energy and the environment through art at PRAx

Two College of Science faculty members — Maude David and Oksana Ostroverkhova — are helping bridge science and art in FutureFarmers: Silicon Forest, a thought-provoking new exhibition exploring the entangled relationship between ecology, technology and human agency.

On view through June 21, 2025, at the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx), the exhibit blends scientific inquiry with artistic expression to invite deeper reflection on our digital future.

Created by the artist collective FutureFarmers, the exhibit invites the public to explore reciprocal relationships between natural ecosystems and technological infrastructures in the “Silicon Forest” — the nickname for Oregon’s high-tech manufacturing corridor. Visitors move through conceptual installations — data records, water samples, wood chips and more — that challenge assumptions about clean technology and offer a space for reflection on our increasingly digital world.

“I am not artistic myself. But art can touch people who can’t easily relate to a ‘nerdy’ scientist,” Ostroverkhova said. “If we can spread the deeper message and touch more people through art, that's beneficial.”

Artists' statement in front of Silicon Forest exhibit

Ostroverkhova’s research group works on low-cost, organic materials for optoelectronic applications, such as solar cells. Her contribution to the exhibit is part of a collaborative scientific effort with colleagues in OSU’s colleges of Forestry and Engineering. Together, they’re investigating fungi-derived pigments including xylindein, a highly durable pigment, used by artists for hundreds of years, as a promising possibility as a semiconductor material.

Xylindein, a pigment secreted by two types of wood-eating fungi, stains wood a blue-green color, which artists have used for centuries. The pigment is so stable that art made more than 500 years ago still retains the color. It has held up against prolonged exposure to heat, ultraviolet light and electrical stress.

“If something has sat on a church ceiling for 500 years and hasn’t degraded, I want to know why,” she said.

Twelve small vials containing differently colored pigment materials

Maude David, associate professor of microbiology, works at the intersection of computer science and microbiome research. She contributed ideas and reflections about artificial intelligence, energy consumption and data ethics. She sees the abstract, immersive nature of the exhibit as a powerful tool for contemplation.

“AI is needed and it’s useful. In fact, I use it for my research. But what is the cost for our children?” she said. “More than 10% of the energy consumption in Oregon is just for data centers.”

Her wish for visitors is simple: stop and think. From pondering data storage’s environmental footprint to engaging with poetic critiques of AI culture, each part of the exhibit encourages personal reflection.

“We are the last generation where some of us grew up without a phone. My daughter’s pretending to make phone calls at three years old,” she said. “AI is difficult to see but technology is in the background of a lot of things we do.”