Life Discussions - Dialogue Between Biology and Art
Interdisciplinary lecture marathon on beauty - a cultural or a biological term?
March 12, 2022
Centre for Contemporary Art Prague
Curated by artist Adam Vackar and biologist Dr. Jindra Brejcha
(Transparent Eyeball)
Click here to watch lectures online
Speakers
Michael Bok Department of Biology, Lund University
Jindřich Brejcha Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague
Maya and Reuben Fowkes UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, London
Eliska Fulinova Centre for Theoretical Studies
Matouš Hejl music composer
Johannes Jaeger biologist and philosopher, Complexity Science Hub Vienna
Miranda Lowe principal curator and museum scientist at the Natural History Museum, London
Katja Novitskova artist, Amsterdam
Michael J.Ryan professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas in Austin
Kostas Stasinopoulos curator, Serpentine gallery, London
Adam Vackar artist and researcher, Prague
Transparent Eyeball is a transdisciplinary collaborative practice steered by artist Adam Vackar and evolutionary zoologist Jindrich Brejcha. The mission of Transparent Eyeball is to encourage awareness of biological processes, or meaningful responses to environmental issues. We achieve this by facilitating a dialogue between leading visual artists, art theorists, and scientists.
Our current major interests span environmental concerns to colour producing mechanisms and their perception. If even possible we would like to mediate and facilitate not only understanding, but also affinity of general public towards nature and life. Life Discussions is an Interdisciplinary symposium to discuss how art and culture can co-exist, complement each other, and help to disseminate knowledge and understanding on biological problems. Life Discussions aims to bring new perspectives on how artists, art theorists and biologists can engage together in a collaborative insight into the relation between biological principles that drive our own creativity and our need to communicate. We want to build our understanding on solutions that life on Earth offers.
Today’s environmental issues are often complex. Finding effective strategies that encourage public awareness and stewardship are paramount for long-term conservation of species and ecosystems. Artists and biologists combined approach thrives to disseminate knowledge about ecology to non-specialists through novel art-science participatory research. We invited internationally renowned scientists, artists and art theorists to discuss the evolutionary driven process of art-making as well as to show that humans are inseparable part of the natural world and share planet with other beings.
Michael Bok Department of Biology, Lund University
Maya and Reuben Fowkes UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, London
Johannes Jaeger biologist and philosopher, Complexity Science Hub Vienna
Miranda Lowe principal curator and museum scientist at the Natural History Museum, London
Katja Novitskova artist, Amsterdam
Michael J.Ryan professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas in Austin
Kostas Stasinopoulos curator, Serpentine gallery, London
Adam Vackar & Dr. Jindřich Brejcha, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague