Franceschini is an artist and educator. She founded Futurefarmers in 1995 to bring together multidisciplinary practitioners to create new work. She is currently teaching media theory and practice courses at Stanford University and the San Francisco Art Institute.
MICHAEL CENTURY: "Twin Horizons of Interdisciplinary in Art-Science" Lecture
12 MARCH 2009
EDA, UCLA BROAD ART CENTER
Michael Century is Professor of New media and Music in the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he joined in August, 2002. Long associated with The Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, Century founded the Centre’s Media Arts Division in 1988. As a producer in the field of new media art, he initiated The Art and Virtual Environments project (1991-94), one of the first large-scale and sustained investigations of virtual reality technologies as a new medium for artists.
His talk presented two perspectives on the present: one in relation to the Renaissance, seen as a period of turbulence and decompartmentalization similar to our own, and the second, analyzing briefly the sequence of waves of technological revolutions since the industrial age began in the late 18th century, highlighting the rise and fall of density of innovation in each. This led to a discussion about a coming next wave “after” information technology, based in life sciences and putting into question the very idea of art as a distinct field.
JONATHAN YOUNG: "The Search for Meaning" Lecture
15 JANUARY 2009
EDA, UCLA BROAD ART CENTER
Location: Broad Art Center, EDA Room 1250, Parking in Lot 3
In this lecture we will uncover the common stock of symbolism related to quest stories. Consciously or unconsciously we are contributing to the evolution and emergent fabric of this linguistic device in which complex, culturally specific meanings are communicated simply. Psychologist-storyteller Jonathan Young will draw on his work with Joseph Campbell to explore the symbolism in the Legends of the Holy Grail, the architecture of quest stories and the subterrain of nonverbal communication.
Jonathan Young assisted Joseph Campbell at seminars and served as founding curator of the Joseph Campbell Archives. As a professor, he created and chaired a department of mythological studies. His books and articles focus on personal mythology and the creative process. As director of the Center for Story and Symbol in Santa Barbara, Dr. Young lectures widely on uses of symbolic imagery and consults for content creators in film, visual art, advertising, and writing.
BEATRIZ DA COSTA: "Performing the Political in Interdisciplinary Research" Lecture
06 JUNE 2008
EDA, UCLA BROAD ART CENTER
Performing the Political in Interdisciplinary Research of Pigeons, Plants and Air Particles Beatriz da Costa was an interdisciplinary artist and researcher who worked at the intersection of contemporary art, engineering, politics, and the life sciences. Da Costa was a former collaborator of Critical Art Ensemble and co-founder of Pre-emptive Media, an arts activism and technology group. She was an Associate Professor of Arts, Computation, Engineering at the University of California, Irvine.
This event was co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Performance Studies.
SHARON DANIEL: Art + Activism Lecture
28 MAY 2008
EDA, UCLA ART|SCI CENTER
Sharon Daniel is an Associate Professor of Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she teaches classes in digital media theory and practice. Her research involves collaborations with communities that focus on the use and development of information and communications technologies for social inclusion. Her role as an artist is that of “context provider” - working with communities, collecting their stories, soliciting their opinions, and building online archives to make this data available across social, cultural and economic boundaries.
Daniel’s work is based on the belief that advanced information and communications technologies can be made accessible, useful, and empowering, especially for under-served and marginalized communities, through public art. Her current research is supported by grants from the Daniel Langlois Foundation and the Creative Work Fund.
VICTORIA MARKS: Art + Activism Lecture
22 MAY 2008
EDA, UCLA ART|SCI CENTER
Victoria Marks creates dances for the stage, for film, and in community settings. Marks’ recent work has considered the politics of citizenship, as well as the representation of both virtuosity an disability. These themes are part of her ongoing commitment to locating dance-making within the sphere of political meaning. Marks is a Professor of Choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, here she has been teaching since 1995. She is a 2005 Buggenheim Fellow and has received numerous grants and fellowships, including from the Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the London Arts Board, among others.
The performance was followed by a discussion by Ronald L. Kovic.
Ronald L. Kovic, born July 4, 1940, is an anti-war activist veteran and writer who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He is best known as the author of the memoir “Born on the Fourth of July,” which was made into an Academy Award-winning movie directed by Oliver Stone, with Tom Cruise playing Kovic. Kovic received the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay on January 20, 1990, exactly 22 years to the day that he was shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam War.
RICHARD KRIESCHE: Lecture
29 APRIL 2008
ONLINE STREAMING
Richard Kriesche has been working intensively in electronic media from the early 1970’s, video, computer-multimedia, and net art. He has published in the context of art and science, and has been collaborating with engineering, publishing, energy, electronic and media industries. At the time of the talk, he was preparing a large-scale one-man show on “aesthetics of capital.” Kriesche has participated in more than 380 exhibitions world wide, including Ars Electronica and MIR_RUSSIAN SPACESTATION (first art project on the Russian spacestation MIR).
ALEX GALLOWAY: Art + Activism Lecture
01 APRIL 2008
EDA, UCLA ART|SCI CENTER
Alexander R. Galloway is an author and programmer. He is a founding member of the software collective RSG and creator of the data surveillance engine Carnivore. The New York Times recently described his work as “conceptually sharp, visually compelling and completely attuned to the political moment.” Galloway is the author of Protocol: How Control Essays on Algorithmic Culture (Minnesota, 2006), and a new book co-authored with Eugene Thacker called The Exploit: A Theory of Networks (Minnesota, 2007). He teaches at New York University.
KAREN FINLEY: Art + Activism Lecture
01 APRIL 2008
200 KAUFMAN HALL
Marie Karen Finley is a New York based artist whose raw and transgressive performances have long provoked controversy and debate. She has appeared and exhibited internationally her visual art, performances and plays. Her performances have been presented at Lincoln Center, New York City, The Guthrie, Minneapolis, American Repertory Theatre, The ICA in London, Harvard, The Steppenwolf in Chicago, and The Bobino in Paris. Her artworks are in numerous collections and museums including the Pompidou in Paris and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Finley attended the San Francisco Art Institute receiving an MFA and honorary Ph.D.. She has received numerous awards and fellowships including a Guggenheim, 2 Obies, 2 Bessies, MS. Magazine Woman Of The Year, NARAL Person of the Year (which she shared with Anna Quindlen and Walter Cronkite), NYSCA and NEA Fellowships.
PAVEL SMETANA: "Brainwaves & Biofeedback" Lecture
29 FEBRUARY 2008
EDA, UCLA ART|SCI CENTER
Pavel Smetana essentially started out with exhibitions of his paintings—gradually refocusing his artistic work towards video and computer installations. This led to the programming and developing of the “Room of Desires” installation in 1993–1995. At the time of his Art|Sci guest lecture, Smetana was working on the final stage of his then new project, “The Mirror,” centered on the blending of art and new technologies.
