Second Nature: Origins and Originality in Art, Science, and New Media, Rolf Hughes, Jenny Sundén (eds.), Axl Books:

With the practices of art, science and technology increasingly converging, the concepts of origins and originality raise some of the most pressing questions in contemporary research, including issues of agency and accountability, hybridity and identity, intellectual property and oeuvre, intention and authority. These, and a constellation of related philosophical, economic, aesthetic, legislative and political concerns, are today subject to rapid reconfiguration due to the current pace of technological and theoretical change. Second Nature accordingly brings into a productive, interdisciplinary dialogue scholars working at the intersections of art, science and technology. Continue reading

3rd Leonardo Satellite Symposium: Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks @ NetSci2012 :: June 19, 2012 :: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois :: Call for Proposals - Deadline: March 16, 2012.

We are pleased to announce the third Leonardo satellite symposium at NetSci2012 on Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks. The aim of the symposium is to foster cross-disciplinary research on complex systems within or with the help of arts and humanities.

The symposium will highlight arts and humanities as an interesting source of data, where the combined experience of arts, humanities research, and natural science makes a huge difference in overcoming the limitations of artificially segregated communities of practice. Continue reading

Robert Lue: Using Art to Express and Advance the Scientific Process :: December 7, 2011; 6:00 pm :: EMPAC (Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY :: FREE + Open to the public.

Robert Lue, biologist and director of life sciences education at Harvard, will discuss the vital and transformative role that visualizations play in both science research and education. Lue is the founder of BioVisions, a collaborative initiative led by Harvard scientists to improve the beauty and precision of science visualization. Continue reading

The Wild West of Chronic Pain: Collaborations among Artists, Scientists & Health Care Experts by Artist in Residence Dr. Diane Gromala, Transforming Pain Research Group, SFU, Canada Continue reading

Trust Me I’m an Artist: Towards an Ethics of Art/Science Collaboration presents Adam Zaretsky: Mutate or Die :: December 10, 2011; 3:00 - 6:00 pm :: The Theatrum Anatomicum, De Waag, Nieuwmarkt 4, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

This series of public events, taking place in international settings, investigates the new ethical issues arising from art and science collaboration and consider the roles and responsibilities of the artists, scientists and institutions involved. At each event (before a live audience) an internationally known artist will propose an artwork to a specially formed ethics committee Continue reading

Call for Papers for Issue No. 1/2012 – Performative Science: Reconciliation of Science and Humanities or the End of Philosophy? Deadline: January 15, 2012.

Studia UBB. Philosophia proposes an international debate on performative aspects in scientific practices and methodology. Whilst there exists a discourse on performativity within social sciences and the humanities for quite some time it is rather new to discuss performative aspects within the „hard“ sciences like physics, too, with Andy Pickering’s Mangle of Practice being a seminal work in this context. In the latter work it has been argued that the concept of performativity can fruitfully be applied to action theoretical considerations in the experimental process. Using the notions of “context of discovery” and “context of justification” introduced by Hans Reichenbach, Pickering’s result might be accepted as an aspect within the context of discovery but incompatible with the context of justification. Continue reading

Dreaming of a Butterfly by António Caramelo: “45 acrylic tubes are arranged within the display box. Each tube has a “mechanical” butterfly placed within and their movements are synchronised with the sound system — where microphones obtain real time sound of the surrounding area, and amplify the sounds to the internal subwoofers speakers to produce the necessary input to cause the aleatory movements of the butterflies. As the sound captured reach higher volume, the movement of the butterflies increase.

Each butterfly is attached inside to the acrylic tube by a filament that runs to the battery housing. There is a certain amount of realness to it, while it is understated up close (people can see the filament when the butterfly is at a standstill — or the sound volume is low), but from farther away the fleeting butterfly appears to be real and trying to find its escape! Continue reading

Nathalie Miebach is a Boston-based artist who translates weather data into complex sculptures and musical scores.

“Recently, I have begun translating weather data collected in cities into musical scores, which are then translated into sculptures as well as being a source for collaboration with musicians. These pieces are not only devices that map meteorological conditions of a specific time and place, but are also functional musical scores to be played by musicians. While musicians have freedom to interpret, they are asked not to change the essential relationship of the notes to ensure that what is still heard is indeed the meteorological relationship of weather data.” (Scroll down for the Call for Composers.) Continue reading

Field_Notes – Cultivating Ground :: September 26 - October 2, 2011 :: Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, Kilpisjärvi, Lapland, Finland.

Field_Notes – Cultivating Grounds is a week long field laboratory for theory and practice on art&science work. Five expert groups (Arctic Waters, Biological Milieu, Body Nature, Environmental Computing, Second Order) will develop, test and evaluate specific artistic approaches based on the interplay of art&science.

With: Anu Osva, Andrew Paterson, Anne Lehtelä, Antti Tenetz, Beatrize da Costa, Benjamin Pothier, Continue reading

[HIV-1, coloured green, budding from a cultured lymphocyte. Photo: HIV-1, coloured green, budding from a cultured lymphocyte. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.] Online gamers crack enzyme riddle, from ABC News:

“Online gamers have achieved a feat beyond the realm of Second Life or World of Warcraft: they have deciphered the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade.

The exploit was detailed on Sunday in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, where — exceptionally in scientific publishing — both gamers and researchers are honoured as co-authors.” More >>