Friday, November 1, 2013

Round Table Discussion Coming November 7


ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION NOVEMBER 7, THURSDAY, 4PM
INSTITUTE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, ROOM # 380

In conjunction with the exhibition Tales of Environmental Turbulence, on view at the Institute on the Environment, there will be a roundtable discussion as a concluding event in the one-year Conversation-E project on the intersection of art and science. Participants in this conversation are special guests Peter Reich, Regents Professor and Senior Chair in Forest Ecology; Lewis Gilbert, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Institute on the Environment; and Sean Connaughty, multi-media artist, Adjunct Professor of Art, U of MN.  They will join Jonee Kulman Brigham, AIA,LEED AP, Research Fellow, Center for Sustainable Building Research, and Roslye Ultan, Art Historian/Curator, Senior Faculty MLS/ U of MN, co- recipients of the Conversation-E grant, in a critical look at how art can work with science as a stimulant for progressive, innovative and interventionist thinking.

We will discuss questions that probe into the multiple layers of environmental turbulence for the common good of global survival. How do we awaken people to be participants in the evolving and dramatic changes in nature? What is the role of art and science in adapting and responding to climate change, for example? Artists and scientists respond to environmental issues in different ways. How are they different and/or similar? How can they work together to make a difference in how we investigate complex issues and bring about greater involvement and understanding in our communities? People in diverse cultures have different ways of seeing and knowing their circumstances in society. How do we encourage the disciplines of art/aesthetics and science to work together to form new initiatives and innovations that can serve our culture’s immediate and long term needs for sustainability? These questions are some that the roundtable participants will delve into as we struggle with the impact of climate change and related environmental concerns.     

By Roslye Ultan