Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous 

Exploring the Frontiers of Knowledge and Imagination, Fostering Interdisciplinary Networking

Chaired by Piero Scaruffi and prof. Curtis Frank

EVENT Info

When: November 16 @ 6:30pm PST, Find your timezone here

Where: Hybrid

Location: LiKaShing building - Room LK205/206

Online via ZOOM. Please register in advance

Free and open to everybody

PROGRAM

- Kokichi Sugihara (Meiji University) on "How to Make Impossible Objects", live from Japan
- Virj Kan (Design Scientist) on "Molecular Design Interactions", in person
- Kim Anno (California College of the Arts) on "Spectacle of Nature and Iconic Western texts: Oedius Rex and Dante’s Purgatorio", in person
- Kal Spelletich will give us a tour of his current exhibition "Galactic Scale Inquiries into the Nature of the Cosmos"

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

• Kokichi Sugihara is a Meiji University distinguished professor emeritus. His research area is mathematical engineering. In his research on computer vision, he found a method for constructing 3D objects from “impossible figures”, and extended his research interest to human vision and optical illusion. He is acting also as an illusion artist by creating various impossible objects. He won the first prize four times in the Best Illusion of the Year Contest.
• Kim Anno is a painter, photographer, and film/video artist whose work has been collected and exhibited by museums nationally and internationally. Anno has had exhibitions and screenings at the University of Suffolk, England, 14th Annual New Media Festival, Seoul, Korea, Bejing, Chengdu, Shanghai, China, Yamanba projects, Tokyo, Japan, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, Goethe Institute in Johannesburg, the Durban Municipal Gallery, South Africa in the "Don't Panic Exhibition", Flux Projects, Atlanta, Marcia Wood Gallery in Atlanta, Sky Dive Gallery, Houtson, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Wave Form Gallery, Cincinnati, Anglim/Trimble gallery in San Francisco, Seeline Gallery, LA, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, Sue Scott Gallery, NY, Site Santa Fe Biennale: One Night Stand in New Mexico, the King's Art Center, California Retrospective, the Varnosi Museum in Hungary, DC Dusseldorf International Expo (Germany), Pulse, Miami, among others. Her work has been written about in the New York Times, Art Papers, Utne Reader, Sierra Magazine, SF Chronicle, Art Practical, Areaparis magazine among others. In Fall 2022, she is the Holt Resident Artist at Stanford University.
• Virj Kan is a designer, engineer, media artist, and entrepreneur. Her work investigates new paradigms for design, through transdisciplinary research and technology development. Whether it is in the domain of business, technology or art, her work centers on reshaping human relationships with the environment and each other. Currently she is the CEO of Primitives Biodesign, a biomaterials b-corp that produces functional, intelligent, and biodegradable materials to combat environmental issues in ocean conservation, plastics pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. Before getting involved with Primitives Biodesign, she designed IoT and mobile computing products at Samsung Design Innovation Center and 3D human-robotic interfaces at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Virj holds a Master of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bachelor of Science from Art Center College of Design. Her work has been recognized with the Green Award at the Greentech Festival, SXSW Interactive Innovation award, Best Paper Award at the ACM SIGCHI, Honorable Mention Awards at the International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), Fast Company Innovation by Design, Ars Electronica, SXSW, and Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
• Piero Scaruffi is a cultural historian who has lectured in three continents and published several books on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, the latest one being "The Nature of Consciousness" (2006). He pioneered Internet applications in the early 1980s and the use of the World-Wide Web for cultural purposes in the mid 1990s. His poetry has been awarded several national prizes in Italy and the USA. His latest book of poems and meditations is "Synthesis" (2009). As a music historian, he has published ten books, the latest ones being "A History of Rock and Dance Music" (2009) and "A History of Jazz Music" (2007). His latest book of history is "A History of Silicon Valley" (2011). The first volume of his free ebook "A Visual History of the Visual Arts" appeared in 2012. His latest book is "Intelligence is not Artificial" (2013). He has also written extensively about cinema and literature. He founded the Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) in 2008. Since 2015 he has been commuting between California and China, where several of his books have been translated.
• Kal Spelletich has been a pivotal figure in the machine art and robotics community and frequently collaborates with scientists, engineers, musicians and audiences. His work is performative and interactive and require the participation of viewers, inspiring social engagement both inside the gallery and outside in the world. It sometimes combines art and mysticism with the rigors of science, technology and meditative practices through an unlikely form, robots. The work raises open-ended questions about the dominant economic producers of technology, the interplay of technology and spirituality, the role of the collective in capitalism and economic and educational privilege. Technology and robotics are becoming ubiquitous. Kal questions the values, roles, and norms inherent in how our culture develops, applies, and uses technology. He is an anarchist, activist, guerrilla gardener and educator. Some of his primary issues are investigating how to see these times we live in and developing the means to create a different world. He has performed, exhibited and lectured worldwide, collaborating with scientists, musicians, and politicians. Spelletich’s work has been included in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions over the past three decades, including the De Young Museum, SFMOMA, The Exploratorium Museum and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, S.F., Ca., California Folk Art Museum, L.A., Ca., Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, Ca., and Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin, Ca. He has exhibited internationally in Namibia, India, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, France, Czech Republic, Holland, England, Slovakia and Austria. Spelletich lives and works in San Francisco, California.

FOR MOST RECENT EVENT INFO, PLEASE VISIT www.lasertalks.com.

SPONSORS:

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