On Sunday night I stopped by the opening of THE LABORATORY at Harvard. Located in the new Northwest Building at 52 Oxford Street (adjacent to the Harvard Museum of Natural History), this is a collaborative art/science exhibition and performance space in the lobby and lower lounge of the SOM designed structure. http://www.som.com/content.cfm/harvard_university_northwest_science_building.

There are two components of THE LABORATORY. The Idea Translation Lab facilitates transforming innovative student ideas into exhibitions that are shared with the Harvard community and the public. And the Artscience exhibitions feature artists and designers who create science-based pieces. One student project on  display, VERTIGROW, consists of modular units that grow food, compost food wastes and filter both air and water. The accompanying film uses a lively time-lapse sequence of tissue paper plants growing and origami fruits and vegetables being harvested by community members.  The first exhibit is on display from now until May 28, 2010.  http://www.thelaboratory.harvard.edu/go/Experiments.html