Event 3: Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous, Data Burial: In Living Dunes

For my third event, I attended the Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) titled Data Burial: In Living Dunes. This event was hosted by Symrin Chawla and David Ertel, and it brought together five artists and scientists to talk about their work. Symrin and David are Design and Media Arts graduate students who are collaborating on this project. Data Burial: In Living Dunes is “an installation and vision system that tests the limits of privacy and the site-specificty of networked data” by installing a camera in a remote desert location. This camera will send “images and metadata to the cloud in real time, dramatizing the entropy of data and matter in the face of natural forces,” and this “piece will be complete when the camera is buried by the dunes and loses both solar power and its cellular data signal.”

The first presenter was Claudia Schnugg who “is an independent researcher in intersections of art and aesthetics with science, technology, and business, and producer of art and science collaboration.”


This is an example of ancient hieroglyph engravings.
Hans Barnard “is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures as well as Assistant Researcher at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.” He talked about how his current research involves studying the agricultural development over time in the Fayum Oasis in Egypt. As part of this project, his team found some engravings written in Egyptian; however, the stone was very worn down and difficult to decipher. He explained how his team used a few different technologies to try to expose the rock to different types of lighting to make the engravings more visible. This is an example of how science was used to understand art in the case of hieroglyphs.



Stefanie Volland is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. In her presentation, she explained how photoreceptors in our eyes help us to see, and she went deep into the science behind electron tomography and the structure of the photoreceptors.


This is a diagram of the structure of the eye which Stefanie used to explain her work.

Tamira Elul is an Associate Professor at Touro University California and Visiting Associate Professor at University of California, Berkeley. She “holds a PhD in biophysics and research on morphogenesis in the developing nervous system.”


This is the vest that moves depending on where others are looking.
Behnaz Farahi “is an architect and interaction designer whose work explores the potential of interactive environments and their relationship to the human body.” She showed us a few of her very interesting designs, one of which was a vest the changes its shape depending on where the person is looking. Her designs are mostly rooted in the form and shape of neural development.








This event was very interesting as I got learn about the work of people in totally different fields of study. However, they were all tied together by the underlying element of art and creativity. The picture below is of me and some of the presenters.





References:

"LASER Talks at Los Angeles." Leonardo/ISAST. Leonardo, n.d. Web. 04 June 2017. <https://www.leonardo.info/civicrm/event/info?id=42>.

Philips, Ron. "How Big Is a Photoreceptor?" Cell Biology by the Numbers. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017. <http://book.bionumbers.org/how-big-is-a-photoreceptor/>.

"Stock Photo - Egyptian Art. Detail of a Hieroglyph. Engraved in Stone. National Archaeological Museum. Madrid. Spain." Alamy. Alamy Ltd., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017. <http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-egyptian-art-detail-of-a-hieroglyph-engraved-in-stone-national-archaeological-54395932.html>.


Kira. "Caress of the Gaze 3D Printed Wearable Reacts to the Gaze of Others." 3ders.org. N.p., 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 04 June 2017. <http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150925-caress-of-the-gaze-3d-printed-wearable-reacts-to-the-gaze-of-others.html>.

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