Description: Athena with masterpiece 2022

LASER Talks at UCLA (Los Angeles): Animal Consciousness & Creativity

This LASER is connected to the exhibition opening of Pigeon Art Studio & Animal Creativity at the UCLA Art Sc gallery at CNSI – developed by Aaron Blaisdell, UCLA Psychology Professor and Chair of the Behavioral Neuroscience. His lab at UCLA presents an exhibit featuring pigeons creating digital art, exploring the reasons and processes behind it, and inviting insights into human artistry. 

Guest responder is neuroscientist and sci artist Siddharth Ramakrishan who will discuss animal consciousness in labs.

Chaired by: Victoria Vesna

EVENT INFO

When: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – 6-8 PM PST (UTC-7). Find your timezone here

Where: UCLA Art Sci Gallery, CNSI Presentation Room, 5th floor

570 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095

Online: ZOOM registration

Pigeons have provided a power house of knowledge on learning, memory, and cognition. Now, they also paint! The Blaisdell lab at UCLA has been studying pigeons making digital art using a touchscreen. The goal is to understand the "why" and the "how" of why pigeons make art. What can this tell us about human art? This exhibit features two collections from our pigeon artists. Step into the pigeon artist studio and see what they've been up to!

Dr. Blaisdell is a Psychology Professor and Chair of the Behavioral Neuroscience area at UCLA, overseeing the Comparative Cognition Lab and the Pigeon Art Project. As a member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute, the UCLA Integrative Center for Learning & Memory, and the UCLA Evolutionary Medicine program, Dr. Blaisdell has an extensive academic background with a BA in Anthropology from SUNY Stony Brook, an MS in Anthropology from Kent State University, a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from SUNY Binghamton, and two years of NIH-funded postdoctoral training at Tufts University.

SPONSORED BY:

The Leonardo/ISAST LASERs are a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of the LASERs is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities around the world. To learn more about how our LASER Hosts and to visit a LASER near you please visit our website. @lasertalks

For most up to date information on Los Angeles LASER Talks visit the UCLA Art | Sci Center LASER Page.