Event 2 Assignment: Mapping Futures: LASER Sculpting Narratives of Culture, Ecology, and Digital Aesthetics


 Katherine McNamara 

Event 2 Assignment

LASER Mapping Futures: Sculpting Narratives of Culture, Ecology, and Digital Aesthetics Confirmation


Alinta (top left), Santiago (top right), Sean (bottom left), Jenny Strickland (ASU/Leonardo)

    For my second event, I attended a LASER talk through Leonardo and Arizona State University. This event showcased the projects of three fellows in their program and ended with a Q and A. The three fellows who presented were Dr. Alinta Krauth, Santiago Reyes Villaveces, and Sean Conelly. Each of them had unique ideas that tied science together with art! Alinta discussed her research of animal communication and Artificial Intelligence's potential to bring it into human language, Santiago showcased the "acoustic fossil" device that creates a feedback loop of vibrations to connect to a struggling ecosystem, and Sean played his compelling film about Hawaii's role in our society's technological advancement. 

Map from Sean's video, "X"s marking places special to him!

    These fellows presented with confidence and passion for their topics which compelled me to ask about their personal connections to the projects. Alinta grew up around many different species of birds and other animals in deep Australia and was involved with bat care. Her background heightened her interest in animal communication and the potential to use AI to connect humans to different species. Sean mentioned that he grew up around a technological antenna in Hawaii and never knew what it was until he began college research. He included places that were important to him in relation to technological outposts on maps that appeared in his film. 

Notes from Alinta's slides

    This LASER talk was fun to attend because the fellows cared deeply about their projects and their responses to everyone's questions were sincere. Each of them touched on the importance of art in science and vice versa. It was very cool to hear such passionate art scientists speak about the topic. I would recommend this event to anyone in our class because it was a safe and engaging space. The attendees were enthusiastic about the content and everyone was interested in what was being shown. 

References 

Snow, C. P. (Charles Percy),   The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.

New York: Cambridge University Press, (1959).

"RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms" Youtube, RSA. October 14th, 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&t=138s

"SEEDMAGAZINE.COM Two Cultures Steven Pinker" Youtube, beautyandtruth09. May 18th, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUbVc7qVpg. 

Vesna, Victoria. Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between, (2001). 121-125. 10.1162/002409401750184672. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Two Cultures Intro.” March 26, 2012. UCLA, Lecture. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Two Cultures Part1.” March 26, 2012. UCLA, Lecture. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Two Cultures Pt2.” March 26, 2012. UCLA, Lecture. 


My Question :) 

Proof of attendance (Zoom confirmation) 


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