An International Festival of Science, Art & Music. Presented by Multiverse Concerts, CLOT Magazine, Integral Steps, and SciArt Initiative on 3/20/2021
Watch the Multiverse Concert:
View the Lectures from the Day:
KEYNOTE LECTURE:
Michael Albrow, B.Sc, Ph.D. (Manchester University UK, 1969), spent 18 years based at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland doing experiments in particle physics. He was a CERN staff member, a senior scientist at the Rutherford Laboratory (UK), and a professor at Stockholm University. He began working at Fermilab in 1991, contributing to the discoveries of the top quark (the most massive known fundamental particle) and the Higgs boson at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. He became Scientist Emeritus in 2016 and continues to do research at Fermilab and CERN while writing and talking about science.
LECTURE:
Tajana Schneiderman is a Ph.D. candidate in planetary sciences at MIT. She is interested in the intersection of exoplanets and debris disks - belts of comets, asteroids, and dust around other stars. Tajana aspires to be an observational astronomer who dabbles in theory, and hopes to further our ability to see other worlds and their atmospheres. When she isn't working to understand nearby planetary systems, she loves to run, knit, and spend as much time in her garden as she can. Website https://eapsweb.mit.edu/people/schneiderman
LECTURE:
Lisa Messeri is an assistant professor of sociocultural anthropology at Yale University. Her research concerns how science and technology stretch our imagination of what place is and what it means to be in place and in the world. Messeri’s first book, Placing Outer Space, examines how scientists transform planets into worlds. Her current research, supported by an NSF Scholars Award, focuses on the virtual reality community in Los Angeles and the efforts of this community to establish VR as a different kind of tech industry, one that values equality and representation. In addition to academic writing, Messeri has had essays published in The New York Times, Slate, and Motherboard. Website http://www.lisamesseri.com/
ARTIST TALK:
Ani Liu is an internationally exhibiting research-based artist working at the intersection of art & science. Her work examines the reciprocal relationships between science, technology and their influence on human subjectivity, culture, and identity. Reoccurring themes in her work include gender politics, biopolitics, labor, simulation and sexuality. Ani's work has been exhibited internationally, at the Venice Biennale (forthcoming, Architecture Biennale 2021), Ars Electronica, the Queens Museum Biennial, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Asian Art Museum, MIT Museum, MIT Media Lab, Mana Contemporary, Harvard University, and Shenzhen Design Society. She’s been featured on National Geographic, VICE, Mashable, Gizmodo, TED, Core77, PBS, PCMag, FOX and WIRED. Website www.ani-liu.com
ARTIST TALK:
Ed Bell is the Art Director of Scientific American. He is also an adjunct professor at the Polytechnic University of Brooklyn, a lecturer at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and California State University at Monterey. He wrote the award-winning iPad book/app “Journey to the Exoplanets” (an interactive visual look at some of the many extra-solar planets in our galaxy). He has written, produced, and narrated short videos for Scientific American Online. Website https://edbellmedia.com/projects/associates/#prettyPhoto
Watch The Artist Panel:
More About Other Skies:
This groundbreaking online festival interweaved musical performances, visual art, and talks from scientists working at the cutting edge of exoplanet research - whose work directly inspired the art on display. Over the course of the day, a diverse interdisciplinary panel presented a broad picture of our exoplanetary horizons and their ramifications for our shared humanity.
Recent scientific advancements—combined with our insatiable curiosity to probe the unknown—have rekindled our SciFi imaginations in the quest for the extraterrestrial. But what are the philosophical implications of these revelations? As these discoveries permeate popular culture, artists, thinkers, and scientists reflect and interpret their relevance. Can we envision new horizons for humanity away from imperialist and colonial perspectives? What unimagined life forms will be encountered? Can we imagine what it would be like to live beneath other skies?
At the heart of this event is the exhibition space: an immersive online environment specially created for the festival by New Art City, curated by CLOT Magazine and SciArt Initiative. The exhibition on view, “Exoplanetary Dust,” will feature the work of 13 international artists/collaborations and will be hosted inside the freely navigable 3D gallery. Live events took place inside the same digital space, including live-streamed talks, a panel discussion, and a performance from Multiverse Concert Series.
Organizers:
CLOT Magazine is an online platform dedicated to art and design explorations into science and technology, with a strong focus on media theory, philosophy and cultural studies.
Integral Steps is a music-focused non-profit organization offering unique integrative learning experiences through weekly classes, workshops and events. We serve children, families, and professionals interested in integrative education
Multiverse Concert Series nonprofit combines music and science in live performance. We believe the endeavors of art and science stem jointly from our innate passion for discovery.
SciArt Initiative is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging the gulf between the arts and sciences through exhibitions, residencies, events, and our publication.
New Art City is an online multiplayer exhibition space for digital art and performance. Their 3D gallery toolkit allows artists and curators to build new types of exhibition spaces that can be accessed by hundreds of simultaneous visitors from all over the world with no need to register or download anything. They are an artist run organization dedicated to supporting artists, providing virtual space for those who are denied physical space, and amplifying the work of those who face systemic injustice.
This event was made possible in part with the support of the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC, and the Boston Mayor's Arts and Culture COVID-19 Grant .
