March LASER Event

6:45pm-7:00pm: Socializing/networking.

7:00-7:25pm: Indre Viskontas, "Music that Moves: The Art and Neuroscience of Effective Performance"

We are constantly bombarded by a cacophony of sounds and yet music still has the power to influence us, often outside our awareness. What is it about this art form that draws people in? What distinguishes a performance that is technically accurate but unmusical from one that elicits the chills? We will explore how music engages the brain and why it continues to be a worldwide addiction.

7:25-7:50pm: Rebecca Kamen (Northern Virginia Community College), "Making the Invisible, Visible: Discoveries Between Art and Science"

Discoveries between art and science were revealed during research residencies at the American Philosophical Society and the Chemical Heritage Foundation libraries and collections. They have been a muse in the development of Kamen's artwork. We will discuss the notion of scientist as artist and artist as scientist, highlighting historic images from these library collections. We will also discuss several collaborations with scientist and the work developing from these dialogues. The main focus will be the genesis of a large sculpture/sound installation, Divining Nature: An Elemental Garden and the different research areas that have informed its development. Divining Nature has also been a catalyst for several other collaborative projects, which will also be discussed.

7:50pm-8:10pm: BREAK

Before or after the break, anyone in the audience currently working within the intersections of art and science will have 30 seconds to share their work. Please present your work as a teaser so that those who are interested can seek you out during social time following the event.

8:10-8:35pm Shamit Kachru (Stanford Physics Dept) on "Are There More Dimensions of Space?"

Some leading approaches to theoretical physics (for example, the so called String Theory) suggest that there may be extra dimensions of space, "compactified" to such small size that we have not yet detected them with modern experiments (or our eyes!). I briefly discuss the role that such dimensions may play in explaining and unifying some of the puzzles of modern physics.

8:35pm-9:00pm: Scott Kildall (Artist) on "Tweets in Space"

Tweets in Space is a new art project by Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern, where we will beam Twitter messages from participants worldwide to Gliese 581d - an exoplanet 20 light years away that can support extraterrestrial life. Using DIY technology, we are building a optical signaling device to dispatch the millions of voices in the Twitterverse into the larger Universe. This will be a live performance, which will activate a potent discussion about communication and life that traverses beyond our borders and understanding.