Category: Archive

Through March, Creative Disturbance is featuring podcasts that showcase women voices in topics of art, science and technology. Some of the more popular podcasts include:
•  Art and Technology Pioneer Liliane Lijn
•  Music, Science and Technology pioneer Pauline Oliveros
•  Internet pioneer and innovator Christine Maxwell’s discussion with educator Rebecca Nix, Why Big Dreamers Need to Know About Big Data.
•  Artist Caroline Ometz‘s scientific and artistic collaborations with UT Southwestern researcher Dhru Deb in Cancer: Finding Beauty in the Beast.
•  Drs. Kathy Ellins and Susan Eriksson address the current status of art and earth science collaborations and new directions that could bolster their utility in geoscience research and education.
..and other topics of interest.
Visit creativedisturbance.org/womensday to hear the talented, powerful and diverse voices, or add your own podcast at the Voices of the Crowd channel to join these more than 25 voices.
Contact us at feedback.createdisturb@gmail.com if you would like to post a podcast!

 
What is Creative Disturbance? 
Creative Disturbance is an international, multi-lingual, online platform that (once complete) will provide a unique virtual environment for the intellectually curious across the globe to meet, network, collaborate, create, and socialize.
One means of both sharing and spurring such interactions is through a dynamic collection of podcasts crowdsourced and produced by Creative Disturbance members.
These ‘conversations’ help illuminate and inform others on matters of interest across the Creative Disturbance community.

Texas has become a hub for attracting cross-disciplinary leaders. The next ATX LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) on March 12 will gather many of these thought leaders and innovators together.  This panel of Texas-based practitioners reflects the diversity and interests of the growing network, which seeks to become the leading advocate for collaboration among the sciences, engineering, arts and design, fostering innovation and learning that impact community sustainability and economic growth.

WHAT: ATX LASER: Where Art Intersects Science in Austin
WHERE: Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum, 605 Robert E. Lee Rd, Austin, TX 78704
WHEN: 7:00pm – 9:30pm, March 12, 2015
RSVP: atxlaser.eventbrite.com
MEDIA: For more information contact Diane Sikes at programs@umlaufsculpture.org and 512-445-5582

Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum presents 

ATX LASER: Where Art Meets Science in Austin

Interactive series gives new insight into seemingly opposing worlds

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Inspired by a noticeable trend of growing interest in the convergence of art, science and technology, the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum (Umlauf) in partnership with Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology will host its fourth ATX LASER (Austin – Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) event March 12.  The engaging series is free and open to the public.
Guest speakers will include:
Interactive artist and researcher Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo.

Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo focuses on aesthetics of interactive experience. Currently she is an assistant professor in the Department of Visualization at the College of Architecture and a faculty fellow in the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University. With interdisciplinary, interactive art practice, Seo investigates the intersection between body, nature and technology. Her current research concentrates on designing for tangible and kinetic aesthetics in the contexts of performance, child development and health.

Artist, scientist, and creative catalyst Ruth West.

Ruth West envisions a future in which art + science integration opens new portals of imagination, invention, knowledge, and communication across cultures to create breakthrough solutions for our most pressing global problems. Ruth directs the xREZ Art + Science Lab and is an associate professor at the University of North Texas cross-appointed in the College of Visual Art and Design (New Media Art & Design), College of Information (Information Sciences), College of Engineering (Computer Science) and College of Arts and Sciences (Biological Sciences).

Artist and cross-disciplinary collaborator Carol LaFayette.

Carol LaFayette collaborates with scientists and engineers to invent unique experiences based on interactions among flora, fauna, and humans in rural landscapes. Her work with leafcutting ants is documented in the PBS series “State of Tomorrow:” the first 3D, immersive map of a vast Atta texana colony. Carol’s artwork is in collections at the Museum of Modern Art, New Museum of Contemporary Art, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has exhibited interactive installations and video worldwide, including LAB ’11, Sweden; SIGGRAPH; Zebra Poetry on Film, Berlin; Filmstock, UK; and Solomon Projects, Atlanta. Reviews and papers have been published in BBC Technology News, Wired, and Leonardo. She is Professor in the Department of Visualization and Director of the Institute for Applied Creativity at Texas A&M University. Carol serves as Principal Investigator of an NSF-supported project to form the SEAD network for collaboration among the sciences, engineering, arts, and design.

Assistant Professor of Behavioral and rain Sciences Gagan Wig.

Dr. Wig’s research program uses a combination of structural and functional imaging tools to understand the organization of large-scale human brain networks and how these networks change over the adult-lifespan. He uses this information to guide studies related to mnemonic and attentional processes, with a particular focus on understanding the sources of individual differences in memory and attention and how they may be modified by aging and disease. In collaboration with Dr. Roger Malina¹s ArtSci lab at UTD, Dr. Wig has been exploring ways to Œdramatize¹ brain connectome data using dynamic representations that incorporate sight and sound. He will present an overview of some the recent insight revealed in his studies of brain connectivity networks and aging, and how data dramatization may reveal novel ways of understanding and appreciating the complex patterns that are present throughout the connections in our brains.

Discussion will be moderated by Roger Malina, space scientist and astronomer.  Malina is a Distinguished Professor of Art and Technology and Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Dallas and the Executive Editor of the Leonarndo Publications at MIT Press.
Following the speaker presentations, an open discussion will commence where participation is welcomed and encouraged from all attendees. For more information about ATX LASER and other Umlauf events, please visit umlaufsculpture.org

 
About ATX LASER

ATX LASER was conceived by J.D. Talasek, UMLAUF scholar-in-residence, in partnership with the nonprofit Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST). Talasek is Director of Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. and the founder of the D.C. Art Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER) program. His co-organizers for ATX LASER are Katie Robinson Edwards, PhD., UMLAUF Curator, and Diane Sikes, UMLAUF Director of Programs.

About Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology

The Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST) is a nonprofit organization that serves the global network of distinguished scholars, artists, scientists, researchers, and thinkers through programs focused on interdisciplinary work, creative output and innovation. Visit the Leonardo/ISAST website for more information at www.leonardo.info

About the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum

Founded in 1991, The Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established around a vast collection of work by American sculptor Charles Umlauf who donated his home, studio and 168 pieces of sculpture to the City of Austin. The property was then transformed into a sculpture garden and exhibits the work of the prolific artist.
The museum’s mission is to provide educational experiences that encourage understanding and appreciation of sculpture in a natural setting through workshops, classes, tours and exhibitions.
The year 2014 marks the expansion of the museum’s initiatives, including the connection of the museum to the residence and studio of Charles Umlauf as well as the update and extenuation of the museum’s educational and public programming, benefiting the Austin community and visitors from across the world.

“We are a podcast dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest news stories from across the entire spectrum of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics; as well as the Maker Movement and various Open Source Initiatives. We seek to inspire the public imagination in S.T.E.A.M. topics thus enabling a society that is technically and scientifically literate. We do this believing that a society that balances technological and scientific pursuit with humanity is the best hope for our collective future.
We also seek to serve as an advocate for the digital rights of individuals. We are strongly committed to ensuring technology plays the role of good in developing and safeguarding the democratic ideals of personal freedom, spirited debate, unfettered elections, and open conversation — free from fear, censorship, and harassment. We will ensure such ideals are passionately defended the world over.
We strive to be an advocate for four core initiatives, they are:
1) STEAM education in the United States and around the world. From elementary school to college and beyond. Not just in the classroom but also within youth groups and in the home.
2) Raising the public awareness and appreciation for the impacts science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics has on our society both now and in the future
3) Evangelizing the Maker Community, Open Source Movement and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mentality so that we can become a more creative, self-reliant, and openly collaborative society.
4) Advocating for the digital rights of individuals by ensuring any policies put in place by governments and corporations balance privacy with security. Thus ensuring that the rights and freedoms of the individual is never trumped by corporate greed or government overreach.”
About The Hosts
Mike Parks is an engineer, Navy veteran, and small business owner.  You can follow along on Twitter or Google+, and he occasionally rants on his blog.
Lisa Parks is a sociologist and Mike’s better half.  She is passionate about understanding the impact technology has on people, society, and education.  She is also the creative genius of Super Chic Dollies.

The ideal candidate is someone who is detail-oriented, enjoys the publishing process, communicates well with others, and is familiar with E-books. The candidate will acquire valuable experience with e-publishing tools and methods. Possible continuation over the summer since most of the work can be done online remotely with coordination meetings held on campus. The work is in the ATEC ArtSciLab under the supervision of professor Roger Malina
Responsibilities:
• Formatting existing or new articles for the upcoming Leonardo E-book according to the current style guide
• Updating style guide and process as it becomes more efficient
• Collaboration with various editors at MIT Press to supplement the development of Leonardo E-books
• Like a liaison with MIT Press, you will communicate and collaborate with E-book editors internationally
• Will help publish the E-book to Amazon
• Support the E-book’s online presence by maintaining its social media
• Responsible for the E-book companion website maintenance
• Could be tasked to experiment with other scholarly publishing platforms (i.e. publishing professional podcasts for the Leonardo Creative Disturbance channel)
Recommended:
• Previous experience in editorial work, social media, and front-end web development
• If interested contact Roger Malina at: roger.malina@utdallas.edu

The UT Dallas ATEC ArtSciLab is pleased to announce its participation in collaboration with Leonardo/OLATS in “Trust Me, I’m an Artist”
“Trust Me, I’m an Artist: Developing Ethical Frameworks for Artists, Cultural Institutions and Audiences Engaged in the Challenges of Creating and Experiencing New Art Forms in Biotechnology and Biomedicine in Europe” is supported by funding from Creative Europe and is a collaboration between Waag Society, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, The Arts Catalyst, Ciant, Kapelica Gallery, Medical Museion, Capsula and Leonardo Olats. The lead artist on the project is Anna Dumitriu and the lead ethicist is Professor Bobbie Farsides.
The aim of “Trust Me, I’m an Artist” is to investigate how artists and cultural institutions can best engage with biotechnology and biomedicine in order to drive innovation in artistic production, ways of presenting artworks, and developing new audiences in Europe. The main goal is to provide artists, cultural institutions and audiences with the skills to understand the ethical issues that arise in the
creation and exhibition of artworks made in collaboration with biotechnology and biomedicine. Additionally the project will provide science and technology collaborators with new ethical frameworks for
successfully working with cultural and creative players. By giving confidence to stakeholders it will open up opportunities for artists and creative organisations to work in new partnerships across Europe and internationally.
Lead artist Anna Dumitriu said of the project:
“Artists tend to work at the forefront of innovation and push boundaries, whilst engaging in ethical and philosophical challenges that resonate through society around new technologies, and this project has the potential to situate them at the forefront of the latest research. Our high impact outputs will prompt new ways of thinking about how art, biotechnology and biomedicine can intersect, and bring together diverse stakeholders and audiences to create new ways of working at the cutting edge of art, science and technology.”
“Trust me, I’m an Artist” will involve a series of practical and discussion-based participatory workshop activities; a major series of performative events (before a live audiences) where a specially selected artist will propose an ethically complex artwork to a specially formed ethics committee (following the rules and procedures typical for the host country), the ethics committee will then debate the proposal and come to a decision, the artist will then be informed of the ethics committee’s decision and, alongside the audience, they can enter into a discussion about the result.
The learning from the project will be shared through a major symposium; a touring exhibition; a series of publications; a website; and an exciting distributable format designed to give other cultural institutions, artists groups, community groups, students and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue by creating their own DIY Trust Me, I’m an Artist events, leaving a strong legacy for what we learn.
This new project builds on the strong foundations laid by the previous “Trust Me, I’m an Artist: Towards an Ethics of Art and Science Collaboration” project. The book of the project is available on
http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Artist-Dumitriu-Bobbie-Farsides/dp/1320097383/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408814598&sr=1-1
The ATEC ArtSciLab will be participating through the Leonardo Initiatives projects in Experimental Publishing including the Creative Disturbance platform (www.creativedisturbance.org ) channel on art and biology http://creativedisturbance.org/channel/meta-life/  and the MetaLife platform: http://synthbioart.texashats.org/
Website Links:
Waag Society http://waag.org/
Brighton and Sussex Medical School http://bsms.ac.uk/
The Arts Catalyst http://www.artscatalyst.org/
Ciant http://www.ciant.cz/
Kapelica Gallery http://kapelica.org/
Medical Museion http://www.museion.ku.dk/
Capsula http://00capsula00.wordpress.com/
Leonardo Olats http://www.olats.org/ ; UT Dallas ArtSciLab
www.artscilab.utdallas.edu
Anna Dumitriu http://normalflora.co.uk/

Carolyne Adhiambo Ojwang was born and raised in Kenya before I relocated to the US to join her family. She is currently a University of Texas at Dallas student in the Masters program in ATEC graduating in Spring, 2015. As an immigrant, she is  interested in the African Diaspora, especially the East African community and how they can use cultural discussions and technological initiatives to provide a gateway to the rest of the world. Her Masters project will address how to enable East Africa to become visible in the global scene as part of the ArtScilab experimental publishing initiatives.
She will be carrying out her masters project in collaboration with the Art Sci Lab Virtual Africa project led by Yvan Tina and contributing to the ArtSciLab Creative Disturbance podcast and collaboration platform.

We are thrilled to announce that xREZ lab and collaborators at UTD ArtSciLab and Texas A and M CStar antarctic telescope have received a prestigious NEA art works grant for creation of the interactive artwork Instrument” One Antarctic Night.
http://oneantarcticnight.xrezlab.com/
INSTRUMENT: One Antarctic Night is an interactive artwork created from 287‚800 images of the universe captured recently by a robotic telescope in Antarctica. Using this data about how the universe works‚ we are creating electronic instruments that participants interact with to make digital image and sound remixes. The experience is like a video and music jam session taking place in the gallery‚ on large scale displays‚ mobile devices‚ and online simultaneously.
The project is art+science collaboration between artists and astrophysicist led  by UNT (http://www.xrezlab.com/ ) , with UT Dallas Art SciLab, and Texas A&M (http://mcba11.phys.unsw.edu.au/~plato/cstar.html) with participating artists from RISD and SJSU. Watch the project video and learn more about this exciting artwork at http://oneantarcticnight.xrezlab.com.
ArtScilab collaborators Scot Gresham Lancaster and Brian Merlo and Andrew Blanton at San Jose State University are participating.

Susan C. Eriksson is a geologist, educator, and artist, with a specialty in translating cutting-edge scientific research into programs that impact students and society. She has served as a research scientist for a major oil company; faculty, administrator, and museum director at Virginia Tech; and Education and Outreach Director for UNAVCO, an NSF facility for geodetic research and for the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
She supports an emerging community of scientists and artists working together in the subject of the Earth by founding  Bella Roca, a website with news and articles on people and events in the geoscience and art arena and by co-convening several sessions on geoscience and art at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting.
Susan has exhibited her Earth-inspired art work nationally at the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Eriksson is also an independent consultant in strategic planning and evaluation of STEM programs.
Dr Eriksson is producer of the podcast channel on Art and Earth Sciences on the ArtSciLab Creative Disturbance project ( www. Creativedisturbance.org )

Jack Ox is an artist who used research as the method behind her art works and is now taking the procedures developed as an artist to the scientific and engineering world of visualization. She is also a longtime member of Leonardo Journal’s editorial board, and has served as both a Research Assistant Professor in Art and Art History, and Research Associate Professor of Music at the University of New Mexico; also at UNM, she is a researcher at the Center for Advanced Computing (CARC). Ox just finished a PhD dissertation on “Manifestations of Conceptual Metaphor and Blending Theories” for Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. Her 30-year career of mapping musical scores to paintings such as Kurt Schwitters’s intermedia masterpiece, “Ursonate,” can be seen at http://www.jackox.net/pages/Ursonate/ur_MAINindex.html and virtual reality renditions, such as the “Gridjam” at http://www.jackox.net/pages/gridjamIndex.html. Recently, Ox presented a paper at the IEEE VIS 2014 conference in Paris on how knowledge representers can use analogy and conceptual blending in visualizations.
Jack Ox, together with Fluxus artist Ken Friedman, is leading the 3-year Leonardo symposium on the PhD in Art and Design. This project is documenting best methods and practices, as well as issues and challenges, that are emerging with the introduction of the PhD in Art and Design in universities internationally and in particular for hybrid professionals in theh art-science and art-technology fields.

The University of Texas at Dallas’ new Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History (EODIAH) and the Leonardo Initiatives of ATEC at UTD are pleased to announce the Leonardo Generation 0 Project, an open and expanding archive of the foundational forces in art-and-technology.
 
After the Second World War, two major developments transformed the cultural landscape: the digital computer and discoveries in the realm of genetics. The Leonardo Generation 0 Project chronicles the multi-perspectival merger between technology and art from the 1950s through the 1980s.  Generation 0 amplifies the voices of pioneering and influential artists, engineers, curators, and key organizations through a growing databank of written first-person accounts and podcast recordings. The project seeks to document the experiences of those most closely involved in the creation of digital art, the biological arts, new media art, and computer art using the tools of the digital humanities. Leonardo Generation 0 shares the unique perspectives in a style that is at once embracing and accessible, intellectually rigorous yet casual. This new project is aimed at uncovering a rich, if somewhat underappreciated, time in art history by recording the memories of the pioneers.
 
The Generation 0 Project is part of the Leonardo Pioneers and Pathbreakers project of the Observatoire Leonardo des Arts et Techno-Sciences in Paris, and in collaboration with its director, Annick Bureaud. Memoirs are being published both on the Pioneers and Pathbreakers website athttp://olats.org/pionniers/pionniers.php and in the Leonardo Journal art history section edited by Professor David Carrier: http://leonardo.info/leoinfo.html
 
The co-directors of the Generation 0 Project are Professor Roger Malina, an affiliate faculty member of the EODIAH and an ATEC Distinguished Chair at the University of Texas at Dallas, and Dr. Charissa Terranova, an Associate Professor of Art History in EODIAH. ATEC ArtSciLab Research Fellow, Poe Johnson, a University of Texas at Dallas PhD student, coordinates the project. Their varied perspectives and skill sets embody the hybridity of the memoirs project itself, and the philosophy of University of Texas at Dallas ATEC and Arts & Humanities programs.
 
Among the recent memoirs are an inside account of the workings of Bell Labs from A Michael Noll, Helen and Newton Harrison about their early work in art and environment, Frieder Nake views as a pioneering German computer artist, Trudy Reagan early days of the YLEM organization.
 
Submissions for the Pioneers and Pathbreakers memoir project are decided and peer reviewed by The Frieda Ackerman Committee: Marc Battier, Paul Brown, Annick Bureaud, David Carrier, Joel Chadabe, Anne Collins, Eduardo Kac, Roger Malina, Patrick McCray, Frieder Nake, Louise Poissant, Eddie Shanken, and Charissa Terranova. The call for memoirs is available at http://leonardo.info/isast/journal/calls/pioneers.html.