[Reader-list] conVerge: art and science symposium at adelaide festival 2002

[amanda at adelaidefestival.net.au]

forgive the promotion, perhaps not entirely appropriate to this list, but I
thought it might be of interest to some...

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3/ 4 March, 2002
A Symposium as part of Adelaide Festival 2002

Register online: http://www.adelaidefestival.org.au/2002/bookticket.asp?ID=29


                          ***conVerge***

To coincide with the exhibition 2002 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art -
conVerge: where art and science meet - the  Adelaide Festival 2002 will convene
a two-day symposium exploring relationships between the arts and sciences in the
context of sustainable futures.

Many artists currently exploring scientific, technological and cultural
developments of the 21st Century are engaged in a critical debate.  This is a
discourse suffused and indeed inspired by complex sociological and political
issues and these creative disciplines, areas of cultural practice often
understood to be at odds with one another, must engage if we are to understand
our future and the roles of creative individuals within it.

This symposium has been developed to complement the 2002 Adelaide Biennial of
Australian Art, an exhibition of work by Australian artists exploring these
areas of debate to be staged by the Art Gallery of South Australia during the
Adelaide Festival 2002.  The intention of the symposium is to broaden dialogue,
generate ideas and raise awareness of the contributions both artists and
scientists can make to the larger challenges of our time.

Nationally and internationally significant artists, scientists and thinkers will
come together to create an open site for audiences to engage with this debate -
to become participants in the development of ideas rather than a merely passive
audience. The symposium will encompass presentations, performances, workshops
and panel discussions.

The project will provide a research environment, as it were, where the public
may see, experience and contribute to a range of ideas and media at play.


'Both scientists and artists have a special gift for us, if they can only bring
themselves to share it. Both groups live always at the 'edge of mystery'- the
boundary of the unknown'
                                         Robert Oppenheimer

Who should attend?

Science communicators
Scientists
Research and Development practitioners
Artists
Representatives of local, state and federal governments
Politicians and public administrators
Academics
Community workers
Private and public sector

What you'll take away from the Symposium?
Challenging ideas from different vantage-points, imaginative encounters across
disciplinary barriers, interconnecting different disciplines and life-worlds.

SUNDAY 3 MARCH

**Partnerships**
Australian artists engaging with science practices, issues and themes within a
variety of environments have created collaborations with individual scientists,
science research organisations and industry.

In turn, "'big science' is turning to human creativity for help.  Major research
bodies such as CSIRO and those within corporations such as Xerox are calling in
artists to work collaboratively with their scientists in pushing back boundaries
of technological development." (Quiddington).

What happens at the points of intersection between these two various
disciplines? How might this contribute to the development of an expanded and
more supple creativity in social development? What are some of the issues
inhibiting cross-disciplinary exchange?

**Bioeconomics**
As we enter the 21st Century, key issues that face our economy that confront
economic development are shifting away from those of the late-Industrial Age
towards an era in which life-sciences and biotechnology are fashioning a
bio-industrial world.  Public awareness and broad-ranging debate on the
implications of these trends are crucial to any realisation of the promised
benefits of biotechnology.

**Genomics**
Management of genetic information is a key issue currently facing human society.
Recombinant genetics is one of the most dramatic technological developments/new
phenomena to date in the area of biotechnology. New techniques for identifying
and manipulating genes are the first strand in what Jeremy Rifkin describes as
'the new operational matrix of the Biotech Century'. While the motivation behind
genetic engineering is age-old, the technology itself represents something
qualitatively new.  To understand why this is the case, we must appreciate the
distinction between traditional tinkering with biological organisms and the
mutational potential of current genetic engineering.

MONDAY 4 MARCH

**Image and Meaning**
This session will explore concepts of scientific visualisation and
representation, the ever more complex relationships between different semantic
systems (collusions and collisions of meaning between images, signs, texts), the
use of scientific language, science communication, graphical representation of
numerical data inter alia.

**Knowledge Systems**
Is science universal?  Value the contribution of other cultures and
philosophical models towards this body of knowledge we call science towards the
instrumental ordering of our collective
knowledge about the world and nature's functioning. Examine interconnected
relationships between people, species, natural systems and culture as a means of
understanding our world. Does science define itself or is it socially contingent
and culturally embedded. Who own this scientific truth[s]?

**Ecology**
In order to explore sustainable futures, artists and scientists alike are
turning to the environment and the impact that we have had on nature and the
world around us.  Understanding our dependency upon the world in which is key to
how we relate to our environment and how we preserve its diversity.

**Plenary session**


Speakers So Far

International

Critical Art Ensemble, a collective of artists of various specialisation
dedicated to exploring the intersections between art, technology, radical
politics and critical theory, USA

Adam Zaretsky, artists and professor of Conceptual and Information Arts, San
Francisco State University, currently Honorary Researcher in the School of
Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia. USA

Nina Czegledy, independent media artist, curator and writer, who divides her
time between Canada and Europe. She is also President of ISEA (International
Society for Electronic Arts) (Nina's visit is supported by the Australian
Network for Art and Technology)

Ren
-------------- next part --------------

é Boutin, visual artist, who has appeared in various international art
exhibitions, from the Nouméa Biennial to the Asia-Pacific Triennial in
Queensland, and elsewhere, New Caledonia

Rich Gold, artist, composer, inventor, cartoonist, designer, lecturer and
engineer.  Until recently, primary researcher, Ubiquitous Computing at Xerox
PARC, where he also designed the PARC
artist-in-residence program (PAIR). He currently manages 'The RED Shift' a
design group that uses technology to make stuff for people to enjoy. USA

Jill Scott, media artist , focus-the body and technology. Phd in Philosophy
(Digital Body Automata), currently Professor for interactive media, Media
Faculty, Bauhaus University,
Weimar, Germany De/Aus


Australia

Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Griffith
University, Qld

Martin Walch, artist, Tas

Catts/ Zurr, Oron Catts - co-founder and manager of SymbioticA -The Art &
Science Collaborative Research Laboratory, School of Anatomy & Human Biology,
University of Western Australia. Initiated The Tissue Culture & Art Project in
1996. Ionat Zurr - artist /PhD candidate, SymbioticA and Tissue Culture & Art
Project. artists, WA

Dr Richard Stanford, artist, NSW

Craig Cormick, Communications and Public Awareness, Biotech Australia (DISR),
ACT

David Malin, astronomer, Anglo-Australian Observatory/Adjunct Professor of
Scientific Photography at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), NSW

Jason Hampton, Gurindji / Ngalakarn, artist, NT

Joyce Hinterding, artist, NSW

Fiona Hall, artist, SA

John Tonkin, artist, NSW

Patricia Piccinini, artist, Vic

Michele Barker, artist and lecturer in Digital Media at the College of Fine
Arts, University of New South Wales, NSW

Dr Judy Ford, GLOW, Environmental and Genetic Solutions, SA

Christine Morris, Kombumerri / Mununjalhai, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith
University, Qld

Justine Cooper, artist, NSW/ New York

Kevin O'Loughlin, Narrunga, cultural teacher, SA

Jenny Fraser, Bundjalung, artist, curator, filmmaker and educator, Qld

Mangkaja Artists, WA

Peter Danaja, Burrara, artist/ cultural worker, NT

Margaret Sellars, Wik, Munghan/Kanju, artist, Qld

Dr Paula Dawson, artist / holographer, NSW. (Paula's presentation is supported
by the Australian Research Council)

Rebecca Cummins, artist, NSW & Seattle

Dr Nigel Helyer, artist, NSW

Dr Terry Cutler, Director, Cutler & Co, Chair, Australia Council, Vic

Sue Rowley, Australian Research Council, Vic


for updates check out
http://www.adelaidefestival.org.au/2002/event.asp?ID=29&catid=13

or look at http://www.adelaidebiennial.com for full details of the exhibition,
symposium and archive.



Where and When

Sunday 3 March 11.00am to 7.30pm
Monday 4 March 9.00am to 6.30pm
Masonic Hall
North Terrace, Adelaide

Cost

Symposium Registration             $200
One Day Registration               $120
Festival Friends - Registration    $170
Festival Friends - One Day         $105
Discounted* Registration           $90
Discounted* One Day Registration   $60
(*students, unwaged, pensioners-limited seats available)

Register online at:
http://www.adelaidefestival.org.au/2002/bookticket.asp?ID=29



This project has been realised in collaboration with the Art Gallery of South
Australia to coincide with the 2002 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art -
conVerge: where art and science meet <http://www.adelaidebiennial.com>

The project has been assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the
Australia Council <http://www.ozco.gov.au>, its arts funding and advisory body'

The Biennial web site has been developed with support from Virtual Artists <
http://www.va.com.au>.  The conVerge archive has been developed in collaboration
with the Australian Network for Art and Technology <http://www.anat.org.au>.

The working group that has developed this project comprises: Linda Cooper,
Project Coordinator; Jenny Fraser; Victoria Lynn; Amanda McDonald Crowley; Karl
Telfer; Sarah Thomas; Lynette Wallworth; Angharad Wynne-Jones. Advisors to the
working group were Peter Sellars and Ron Radford.




      Amanda McDonald Crowley
      Associate Director 2002

      Adelaide Festival of Arts
      105 Hindley Street Adelaide
      PO Box 8116 Station Arcade Adelaide SA 5000
      Australia
      Mob: 0419 829 313
      Tel: 61 8 8216 4444
      Fax: 61 8 8216 4455
      www.adelaidefestival.org.au