Particle

In this episode, Takashi joins us from Tokyo, Japan, and addresses how he interprets the global events occurring right now and how one event can shift everything. He discusses one of his interests in going beyond human perception in both spatial and temporal scales, and how it is applicable to the pandemic. Two pressing issues we face today, climate change and the virus, are both beyond our temporal perception, as climate change is on a scale of thousands of years, and in comparison, the virus is a few nanometers in length.

In this engaging episode, Claire Farago speaks with urgency about the Climate Crisis advocating that we think of ourselves relationally, to the world and people around us, and not individually. She provokes, "how do we build support for planetary citizenship?" Nudging further that art and science collaborations are critical for building this future, Claire and Victoria take a deep look through art history, discussing works and examples of how throughout time collaborations and interdisciplinary thinking has produced novel and thoughtful advances.

In this episode we are joined by the ever-inspiring María Antonia González Valerio a philosopher and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), who invites us to really look at and consider how we are responding to the pandemic in our institutions, in our bodies, and in our communities. María Antonia is interested in our incapacity to stop, to slow down and questions why we as humans have responded to this unprecedented circumstance with the mentality that we must continue business-as-usual. She proclaims, "Let the extraordinary be extraordinary!

"If you create chaos in the system, that opens for change, but who can take part in that change? What if the change is in the wrong hands?"
(Danielle Siembieda)

The second edition of Post-Pandemic Provocations, hosted conjointly by Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/(ISAST) and the ArtSci Center features the incredible Provocateur cast consisting of Roger Malina, Nina Czegledy, Joel Slayton, Victoria Vesna, Danielle Siembieda and features special guest María Antonia González Valerio.

What is the material interface of the pandemic? Sarah Brady addresses this question in her work and teaching practice at University of California, Santa Barbara and discusses her experiences and current thoughts with Victoria Vesna. Sarah is interested in face-to-face and tactile exchanges between humans, emphasizing this as an essential component of research and her art practice. In the face of the pandemic, however, Brady is having to figure out new modes of material interaction.

Robertina joins us from Ljubljana, Slovenia and talks with Victoria about her shifting work and experiences brought on by the pandemic. Robertina is particularly interested in the how the environment is responding to the pandemic, noticing what species and sounds are returning to the river and how this changes the audible ecology. She has been creating a sound archive of these changes while considering what type of ecological data might come out of all of the slowing.

We are joined by Hadley Arnold of Arid Lands Institute and Divining Lab who talks with us about designing innovative, intelligent and data-driven systems for water security in the arid world. Hadley discusses her personal journey through the arts and humanities which have led her to understand how art, science, and history can be utilized as complementary tools to enhance the effectiveness of design. Hadley and Victoria also talk about the impacts of climate change on our water systems, and how the pandemic has exposed both vulnerabilities and possibilities for our society.

In this episode we are joined by Karamjit S. Gill, Founder and Editor of AI&Society. Gill discusses his journey with AI&Society how efforts were focused on filling a vital gap – one that was leaving people in marginalized communities out of the dialogue for social context surrounding art, science and technology. Since then, his work as a Professor and Editor have continued to foster the development and structure needed for people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to come together and share ideas.