Broadcast: Events
Computer Art and Science Symposium, Brighton Digital Festival
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09.30 |
Registration |
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10.00 |
Welcome & introduction Professor William Latham, Co-director MSc Computer Games & Entertainment, Goldsmiths College, London & Sue Golifer, Exhibition Curator
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10.15 |
Opening comments from Conference Chair: Professor Frederic Leymarie,Co-director MSc Computer Games & Entertainment, Goldsmiths College, London
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10.20 |
The history of mutation: theory & practice Stephen Todd, Visiting Professor, Goldsmiths Stephen worked for many years at IBM as a software researcher and designer. He worked on very early relational databases; the application of database and graphics techniques to molecular design, archaeology, mathematics and other areas and on transactional messaging systems. Stephen will bring mutation to life with practical applications of the work in:
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10:45
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Computers in the visual arts, a brief history Paul Brown, Honorary Visiting Professor, Sussex University In this richly illustrated presentation artist and historian Paul Brown will describe the emergence of the computer arts with particular reference to the work of William Latham, the pioneer of evolutionary art. Paul will explain how names like computational, generative and code art emerge from the experiments of 20th century arts genres like constructivism and systems and conceptual art. The presentation is intended for those who have an interest in the computational arts and no prior knowledge of the subject is assumed. Paul Brown is an artist and writer who has specialised in art, science & technology since the late-1960s and in computational & generative art since the mid 1970s. His early work involved creating large scale lighting works for musicians and performance groups including Pink Floyd. He has participated in shows at major venues like the TATE, Victoria & Albert and ICA in the UK; the Adelaide Festival; ARCO in Spain, the Substation in Singapore and the Venice Biennale. His work is represented in public, corporate and private collections in Australia, Asia, Europe, Russia and the USA. His most recent book White Heat Cold Logic: British Computer Art 1960-1980 which he co-edited with Charlie Gere, Nick Lambert and Catherine Mason is published by MIT Press, Leonardo Imprint.
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11.10 |
Coffee/tea break |
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11.30 |
Aggregation, flow and cellular forms in generative art Andy Lomas, KATANA Product Manager, The Foundry (Europe's leading VFX and animation company) Prior to joining The Foundry, Andy was Head of Computer Graphics at Framestore, a large visual effects and animation studio, directly involved on a number of productions including Avatar and The Tale of Despereaux. Prior to this Andy was Head of Computer Graphics at ESC (set up by Warner Bros and the Wachowshi Brothers to produce digital effects for the the Matrix sequels). On 'The Matrix: Reloaded' Andy worked on the colour and lighting, particularly how the mental ray renderer was used in the pipeline, and was CG Supervisor for 'The Matrix: Revolutions'. Andy developed the digital rain system that was used for the final sequence where Neo goes back into the Matrix to fight Smith in Revolutions Andy will explore the influences and motivations of his work with form that naturally emerge from rules. He will also compare and contrast these traits with William's work in exploring genetics, such as mutation, cross-breeding and use of DNA. Andy will:
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11.55 |
Live art and artificial life art Sally Jane Norman, Professor of Performance Technologies and Director of the Attenborough Centre at the University of Sussex As a theatre and performance theorist and practitioner, Sally Jane’s work interrogates notions of liveness in the context of evolving technological environments. She is a co-founding and regular jury member of Telefonica's Vida Art and Artificial Life competition. Performing arts have culturally celebrated "liveness" in all manner of technically dramatised forms for thousands of years. Artificial Life Art - hard, soft, and/ or wet - offers arenas and species of liveness wrought with new apparatus and insights. Drawing on a mix spanning archaic and recent investigations of live art, Sally Jane will focus on where and how we might see continuity and rupture in these different practices, covering:
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12.20 |
Presence and the imperceptible: dots, dashes, duration and data Bonnie Mitchell, Bowling Green State University Bonnie Mitchell specialises in immersive art experiences influenced by natural phenomena, perception and the sense of presence. She works with simulated particle systems and dynamics to induce targeted psychological states in the viewer. Her current work focuses on artistic visualization of realtime New Zealand earthquake data in an effort to enable people to psychologically sense the presence of imperceptible changes in the earth. She will discuss her immersive interactive installations and visual music animations that she creates collaboratively with Elainie Lillios, an experimental electroacoustic composer.
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12.45 |
Through a brain, darkly: art, neuroscience and the unconscious Dr Parashkev Nachev, Lecturer at the Institute of Neurology, University College London Dr. Parashkev Nachev completed his postgraduate training at Hammersmith Hospital in London before receiving a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Imperial College London. He has published numerous research articles in the field of cognitive neuroscience in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and has presented his research findings at scientific conferences. Dr. Nachev’s current research interests include the neural basis of voluntary action, the conceptual analysis of neuroscientific thought, the anthropology of neuroscience, and oculomotor prosthetics. He is collaborating with the Oculomotor Research Group of the Department of Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford, studying the neural control of eye movements both in health and disease. Parashkev will interact with the audience while exploring:
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13:10 |
Lunch break |
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14:10 |
Beyond contempory art Etan Jonathan Ilfeld, Tenderpixel Gallery Etan Ilfeld is the founder and director of Tenderpixel Gallery, which is a unique space for promoting critical and conceptual work by emerging and mid-career artists. He is also a digital artist and his work has been featured in 'Rhizome's ArtBase'. Drawing on the research for his latest book, and with reference to the work of leading and emerging artists including: Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter and Katie Paterson, Etan will
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14:35 |
Natural computing: A life-promoting technology Rachel Armstrong, University of Greenwich Rachel Armstrong is co-director of AVATAR (Advanced Virtual and Technological Architectural Research) in Architecture and Synthetic Biology at the School of Architecture, Design and Construction at the University of Greenwich. She is also a Senior TED Fellow, and Visiting Research Assistant at the Center for Fundamental Living Technology, Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark. Her research investigates natural computation through the study of 'living materials', which possess some of the properties of living systems such as, growth, sensitivity and population-scale dynamics, without being truly ‘alive’. She is author of a TED Book on 'Living Architecture' that has been a #1 bestseller on Amazon in biotechnology. Natural computing exists as a series of related and overlapping research fields such as, morphological and unconventional computing, which harness the physical properties of matter at non-equilibrium. Rachel will explore examples of:
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15:00 |
Coffee/ tea break |
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15:30 |
Visual representation in dynamic life sciences Professor Michael J E Sternberg, Imperial College, London Using a range of visual media, Prof Sternberg will:
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15.55 |
Walking along the edge: Drawing, Computing, Robotics and Perception Professor Frederic Leymarie,Co-director MSc Computer Games & Entertainment, Goldsmiths College, London Frederic’s current research interests incorporate ideas from computer vision, together with the physics of waves and shocks and their modelling in modern mathematics via singularity theory. He is also working on perceptual models grounded in geometry, based in part on Gestalt theory. Frederic has initiated several "shape-based" projects mixing the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Computing, including CyberCity and CyberMonument (late 1990's), Digital sculpting (with the Mid-Ocean Studio, 2002-5), and Digital archaeology (co-founder of the SHAPE lab. at Brown University, established in 1999). More recent and on-going projects include: ProGen: An interactive platform for designing cities in games FoldSynth: An interactive platform for the study of proteins and other molecular strands Eco-a-Life: Ecosystems in Virtual Worlds AIkon: Robotics, perception and art Diasynchronoscope: 3D animation without screens, a study in art & design, perceptions of movement, 3D animation Artists, like their scientific peers (in psychophysics, cognitive sciences and AI), become experts in perception, albeit often with a more intuitive grasp of the subject. The artist is further interested in manipulating our percepts and its potential content and narratives, and will seek to re-invent how we perceive the world and ourselves, while producing presentations which remain comprehensible to the (more naive) observer. Frederic will present current on-going work where art meets science along the digital edge, including:
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16.20 |
Panel discussion Beyond contemporary art – what is the future of digital art? Speakers of the day plus invited guests join chair William Latham for an insightful discussion about what the future holds as digital and aesthetic art combine to build ever more impactful and revealing experiences. Invited guests include:
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16.55 |
Closing comments – Sue Gollifer, Exhibition Curator |
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17.00 pm |
Close of Symposium followed by a special event with an invited artist and opportunity over drinks, to look at MUTATOR 1+2 Exhibition with artist William Latham and Curator Sue Gollifer at Phoenix Gallery Brighton |
Free for students with student card - booking essential to reserve your place:
http://shop.brighton.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&catid=21&prodid=211