In-Between algorithms (Life/Death)2

Thursday, September 29, 2016 - 11:00pm to Friday, September 30, 2016 - 3:00am

Inspired by the law of conservation of energy that states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but only transformed, we will use modes of multi-disciplinary performance, which has at its heart the idea of transformation. We can think of various types of performance - artistic, scientific, daily-life, queer, and transitions between life and death - as a mode of operation that counters conventional ideas of fixed states in the material, spiritual and energy-driven universe in which we live, perform, transform. As artists and performers, we see this from a metaphorical and artistic perspective, taking our cues from current thought experiments in quantum mechanics and quantum computing where terms like superposition and entanglement play a vital role in understanding performing operations on data. We might call this creative approach a form of imaginative mathematics/physics, which has fascinated performing artist-scientists across cultures since pre-historic times. We are intrigued by the potential of scientific contributions and provocations offered by mathematicians, physicists, engineers, and computer scientists.

In this context we are also interested in indigenous, modern, post-modern and pre-modern concepts of performed energy matter, including but not limited to the Chinese idea of Qi, and their impact on current practices of critical making and thinking beyond disciplinary boundaries. 

Venue & Address: 
This is a multilocation event that will start at the Fields Institute (222 College Street) and will end at the Lobby of the Robert Gill Theatre, Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (Koffler Student Service building, 214 College Street) Locations: • The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences • Court yard at the Fields Institute • Hallways of Bahen Centre, • Staircase in the Coffer Student Services Building • Lobby of the Robert Gill Theatre
Website: 
http://www.facebook.com/events/1159586427444256/
Cost: 
Free
In-Between algorithms  (Life/Death)2   Energizing matter/Materializing energy.

Opening the Universe: Call for Submissions

Opening the Universe
Friday, November 21, 2008 - 5:00am to Friday, January 16, 2009 - 5:00am

The year 2009 marks four hundred years since Galileo first observed the night sky with a telescope. These observations ultimately transformed the scientific worldview of that time, as well as the understanding of our human context within the universe. To celebrate this anniversary, 2009 has been denoted by the United Nations as the "International Year of Astronomy", when many astronomically themed events in Canada and around the world are planned.

In the spirit of the multidisciplinary nature of the International Year of Astronomy, students from the Ontario College of Art & Design are invited to create art in any medium (including digital images and video), inspired by concepts, ideas, themes as well as images from astronomy. The work will be shown at the Idea Gallery at the Ontario Science Centre (www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/ideagallery). The work will be on display to the general public at the Ontario Science Centre from May through September, with the opening planned for Astronomy Day on May 9, 2009.

Please direct questions about the show, or the submission process, to Robin Kingsburgh (rkingsburgh@faculty.ocad.ca, Rm 304, 100 McCaul St.)

Submission Process and Deadline:
Jan 16, 2009: Submit piece, and attach a 1-page artist’s statement (hardcopy; include your name and contact information) to Rm 304, 100 McCaul St, between 1 and 4 p.m.
Final decisions for pieces to be included in the show will be made by early March 2009, by members of the OCAD and Ontario Science Centre communities.

Email: 
rkingsburgh@faculty.ocad.ca

SharcNet & OCAD's VizDay 2008

VizDay
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 1:30pm to 8:00pm

Data visualisation allows invisible data to be made visible through the creation of meaningful images. At VizDay 2008, experts in data, information and scientific visualization will share examples of and insights into their work in order to introduce the benefits of visualization to academia and industry.

Speakers will provide case studies in the physical sciences, biological and science and the social sciences. The contributions of art, design and cognitive science to visualisation will be discussed.

VizDay provides an opportunity for participants to discuss the tools, techniques and technologies of data, information and scientific visualization.

VizDay 2008 is produced through a collaboration between the Ontario College of Art & Design and the SharcNET Collaboration and Visualization Committee. Supporters include ORION/ORANO; CANARIE, IBM.

For a complete list of speakers and to register, visit the website below.

Venue & Address: 
Room 284, Level 2 100 McCaul St., Toronto, Ontario
Email: 
hkrupa@ocad.ca
Cost: 
Free (please register)

Subtle Technologies Festival of Science & Art

Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 4:00am to Sunday, June 1, 2008 - 4:00am

In Winter 2008, the course "Modern Physics" was offered at OCAD by Faculty of Liberal Studies Instructor Robin Kingsburgh for the first time. In this course, the world of physics was explored, emphasizing physical observations and visualizations of nature, from the realm of the human scale, through microscopic and macroscopic scales. The course examined topics in modern physics including cosmology, relativity and quantum mechanics (without math!), along with their historical contexts. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of visualization in science, and inter-relations between science and art. As part of the course, an assignment was geared towards participating in Subtle Technologies, with the theme of Light.

For the assignment, students had to research a scientific phenomenon involving light. Possible topics included iridescence, wave-particle duality, making the invisible visible (i.e. visualizing parts of the electromagnetic spectrum outside of visible wavelengths) and exploring various optical phenomena like refraction, reflection, polarization and scattering. The students were instructed to research the topic and write a 6-page essay. Following the research they were instructed to create an art piece involving this phenomenon, either literally or metaphorically, as a response to the scientific knowledge they had accumulated during the research process.

These students' works will be on display at the Subtle Technologies Festival of Science & Art, May 29 to June 1 at Innis College, University of Toronto.

Venue & Address: 
Innis College University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

Planet

M. White
Friday, June 13, 2008 - 4:00am to Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 4:00am

Michèle White’s Planet is a speculation on the surface of Venus as an allegorical site. Through series of explorations in wax, the orb and the crater as form contain both the possibility of presence and absence, of love and its loss. Extruding colours through feminine matrixes, the artist manufactures an imaginative realm, where science is reformulated through the female hand.

Venue & Address: 
David Kaye Gallery 1092 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Cost: 
Free

Portage at Science Rendezvous

Portage
Saturday, May 10, 2008 - 4:00am

On Saturday, May 10, members of the public will have the chance to play with three dynamic, interactive art installations as part of the Ontario College of Art & Design’s participation in Science Rendezvous, a new daylong festival celebrating cutting-edge science and technology research in the Greater Toronto Area.

“We’re setting up multimedia art installations that people will literally be able to play with,” said Paula Gardner, a principal researcher at OCAD’s Mobile Experience Lab. “It’s a chance for the public to experience first-hand our research into public surveillance and privacy issues and people’s comfort with mobile technology in a way that’s fun and engaging.”

Three installations — all part of a larger research project named “Portage” — will be located on Queen Street West and John Street:

Soap Box, a repurposed newspaper box displaying an electronic newspaper that allows people to manipulate its content by uploading their own photos or headlines (via text messaging) using their mobile phones (Location: Pages Books & Magazines, 256 Queen Street West).

Sound Sculpture, a three-piece sound installation (with instruments such as cowbells on drum petals and an xylophone) played manually, by singing into a mobile phone or by downloading drum-machine software (Location: corner of Stephanie and John streets, south of Grange Park)

Cycle Erasure, a hybrid virtual-mechanical bicycle in a shop window that can be operated with vigorous, on-screen arm or hand movements. Participants are eventually informed that their image has been captured and are given the opportunity to download it to their mobile device, or erase it from the system (Location: Urbane Cyclist, 180 John Street).

OCAD’s participation in Science Rendezvous will run concurrently with its 93rd annual Graduate Exhibition, “Evolving DNA” (for more information on the Graduate Exhibition, visit www.ocad.ca).

For more details about Science Rendezvous, visit http://www.sciencerendezvous.ca/.

Venue & Address: 
Various locations along John Street between Queen and Stephanie Streets. John Street and Stephanie Street, Toronto, Ontario
Cost: 
Free

OCAD University's Florence Program Visiting Artist + Speaker Series welcomes Samantha Stout

Landscape image in Traditional Japanese style
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 - 4:00am

OCAD University's Florence Program is hosting a Visiting Artist + Speaker Series which brings six international artists, critics and gallerists to our international campus to engage in artist talks, critiques and individual studio visits. This unique opportunity offers students insight into how a successful international practice is developed as well receiving critical feedback on their independent studio work. 

Samantha Stout

Samantha Stout is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in scientific investigation of works of art and cultural heritage. She graduated in 2015 from the University of California, San Diego with a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, completing her doctoral thesis with Prof. Maurizio Seracini.  In 2013, she was an invited participant in the CLIR/Clark Colloquium on Preservation and Its Intellectual Framework, which brought leading scholars together to focus on scientific and philosophical discourses surrounding the preservation of Art. Samantha has been working on field projects in Florence since 2011, and is particularly interested in the development of methodological practice for the comprehensive study and preventative conservation of works of art.www.linkedin.com/in/samstout1

The Series is organized by Linda Martinello, Assistant Professor / CLTA, Faculty of Art, OCAD University

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University Florence Campus
Website: 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/samstout1
Email: 
lmartinello@faculty.ocadu.ca
Florence Visiting Artist series poster, text on BG