Observer Effects: Conversations in Art & Science
Invites thinkers to present their highly integrative work in dialogue with the fields of art and science. This lecture series takes its title from a popularized principle in physics that holds that the act of observation transforms the observed. Outside the natural sciences, the idea that the observer and the observed are linked in a web of reciprocal modification has been deeply influential in philosophy, aesthetics, psychology, and politics.
A limited number of complimentary light dinners will be served at 6 PM to enjoy as part of the talk. Wine and refreshments will also be available as part of our paid cafe service.
Observer Effects: John-Pierre Luminet
Saturday, February 26, 6:30 PM & Wednesday, March 2, 6 PM | Evelyn's Cafe
Jean-Pierre Luminet, an expert on black holes, cosmology, and cosmic topology, will discuss the relationship between principles of aesthetics and the study of the cosmos through the work of artists, philosophers, and scientists. He also will discuss his role in Gérard Grisey's Le Noir de l'Étoile.
Observer Effects: Martin Kemp
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 6 PM | Studio 2
Certain kinds of art and science find meaning in the deeper structures behind appearance—"structural intuitions.” This discussion will examine these expressions in art, architecture, design, and various sciences from the Renaissance to today.
Observer Effects: Maxine Sheets-Johnstone
Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 6 PM | Evelyn's Cafe
This discussion will examine the primacy of movement in perception and our basic understanding of aliveness—and how our interpretation of space and time is fundamentally conditioned by our experience of movement.