IFF director Margaret Wertheim will be participating in the online symposium Strange Attractors: Art, Science and the Question of Convergence, organized by Taney Roniger and the CUE Art Foundation in New York, Nov. 5-15, 2017. Symposium participants – artists, scientists and cultural theorists – include James Elkins, Matthew Ritchie, Suzanne Ankar, Roger Malina, Stephen Nowlin, Werner Sun and Alexis Rockman.

Symposium opening: CUE Foundation: 137 W. 25th Street, NYC 10001. Nov 4, 3-5pm

In conjunction with the symposium, the December issue of the Brooklyn Rail will include a curated section on art and science with essays by Roniger, Wertheim, and other symposium participants.

IFF Director Margaret Wertheim has been awarded the 2017 Scientia Medal for science communication by the University of New South Wales, Australia. Given annually, along with the Bragg Prize for science writing, the medal has previously been won by Stephen & Lucy Hawking, and Scottish geologist/broadcaster Professor Ian Stewart. The award ceremony will take place at the launch of the book Best Australian Science Writing 2017, at the Australian Museum, Sydney, November 7 2017.

Scientia Medal and Bragg Prizes  – 2017 awards announcement.

Tuesday 7 November 2017 6pm to 8pm Australian Museum Cnr College St and William St, Sydney UNSW Dean of Science Professor Emma Johnston and Chief Executive of UNSW Press Kathy Bail invite you to the launch of The Best Australian Science Writing 2017 and announcement of the 2017 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing. Internationally noted science writer, artist and curator Margaret Wertheim will launch the anthology. In recognition of her enormous contribution to science communication, Wertheim will be presented with the UNSW Scientia Medal for Science Communication at this special event. UNSW President & Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs will also announce the winners of the Bragg student prizes for science writing. Refreshments and canapés will be served. We look forward to welcoming you. Registration is essential. Register here

Thursday August 31st is the Australian premier of the film “Symbiotic Earth” about radical biologist Lynn Margulis who first proposed that life is propelled not though competition but through symbiotic collaborations between cells and organisms. Margulis started a revolution that’s reverberating throughout the biological sciences and beyond, inspiring people everywhere to think about the value of collectivity and working together. IFF director Margaret Wertheim be part of a panel discussion after the screening. Margulis’ focus on the power of collaborative generation was one of the inspirations behind the Crochet Coral Reef project. Screening is at the NOVA cinema, in Melbourne.

On June 3 & 4 2017, KNOWLEDGES – the acclaimed art+astronomy event – returns to the Mount Wilson Observatory. This weekend-long astro-aesthetic happening features site-specific art installations and musical performances allied with viewings through the famed “100 inch” telescope used by Edwin Hubble to make the observations that led to his discovery of the expanding universe. Sunday June 4, in the Mount Wilson theater, IFF director Margaret Wertheim presents Making Space, a lecture about the history of scientific concepts of space, followed by a workshop in which participants will build models of hyperbolic space. Both events are free and open to the public. Advance bookings are required for the workshop.

Making Space – lecture: 12noon-2pm
Making Space – hyperbolic workshop: 3-5pm

Lecture description:
What does it mean to say something has 2 dimensions, or 3? Einstein’s general theory of relativity describes our universe as having 4 dimensions, while string theory says we live in a 10 or 11-dimensional space. In modern mathematics and cosmology “space” is a foundational concept, but what do scientists mean by this term? And what are the “dimensions” they speak about here? At Mount Wilson, Hubble discovered that space is expanding, and around black holes space stretches. How can we understand such statements? In this two-part event, science writer and artist Margaret Wertheim will present a lecture about the history of scientific and mathematical concepts of space, followed by a participatory workshop where participants will explore non-Euclidean geometry by constructing paper models of hyperbolic space.

KNOWLEDGES at Mount Wilson Observatory is curated by Christina Ondrus, with additional programming contributions by John Hogan, Ian James, Gabie Strong, and Brica Wilcox. The exhibition features commissioned works by Scott Benzel, Jeff Cain, Krysten Cunningham, Erik Frydenborg, Channing Hansen, Gregory Michael Hernandez, Alice Könitz, Karen Lofgren, Margaret Wertheim, and Rosha Yaghmai, plus an edition by Claire Nereim. Saturday night’s program includes performances by Anna Luisa Petrisko, Harisant, and other free events. Celestial viewing through the two large telescopes is ticketed and features live music by Constance Demby, Ernest Gibson,  Matthewdavid, Money Mark & Secret Circuit, Tara Jane O’Neil, Odeya Nini, Sun Araw, and White Magic. performances and celestial viewing sessions through the two large telescopes. The event is made possible with support from the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. KNOWLEDGES is a project of the Pasadena Arts Council’s EMERGE Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

KNOWLEDGES: website, events schedule
Book tickets to hyperbolic workshop

IFF Director Margaret Wertheim is delivering a seminar at Monash University’s SensiLab.

Seminar Title: Being There – Virtual Reality from Giotto to Today
We are used to thinking of virtual reality as a technology of the computer era, but in this talk Margaret Wertheim will trace its roots to the Middle Ages. In the thirteenth century, Franciscan friar Roger Bacon championed a new form of representation he called “geometric figuring” and argued for artists to adopt this style. Soon Giotto was painting the Arena Chapel, a medieval environment consciously designed to make visitors feel they had been projected into a 3D simulation of Christ’s life. Following the development of what later came to be called “perspective,” Wertheim will discuss a lineage of visual verisimilitude from Giotto to Grand Theft Auto.
Location: SensiLab
Building H, Level 6
Monash University
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East, 3145
Melbourne, Australia

SensiLab is a research group and experimental laboratory at Monash University specializing in the development of virtual reality environments and other new media tools.

Seminar Flier: pdf