Category Archives: Conceptual Development

You’ve already done the work

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As I read the reading responses SOME of you handed in, i’m struck by the fact the stories and content that might seem absent from the current state of the video (I’m referring to our conversations from last night’s screening) is already in your hands. Here are just few excerpts I pulled from the writing you did that I think provide some of the identifiable questions or scientific nodes that might provide the audience the help they need to take in the visual and sonic textures you’ve created. I think people are genuinely interested and intrigued by the questions others have. they want to know what drives you. You should tell them.

Any, all, part, or none of the below text could be read, could be animated on the screen, could be on a piece of paper on each chair… lots of possibilities:

Curiosity is elemental for the learning process because from it we expand and create. We base our ideas and knowledge on what information we have gathered over these milion years that, in turn, serve as the foundation of what is known to us and what is yet to be discovered­­ – a kind of nature that is constantly changing its shape and expanding.
EM 

Why do certain smells trigger memories of the mall I went to in high school?  Why do certain combinations of colors remind me of a car ride I took the summer after my senior year?
JC

It always baffles me when I read and learn about the human brain and its complexities….Without memory there would be no consciousness….For a brain to be self-conscious, it must be able to think abstractly, question, predict, generalize, categorize, and reason.
KT

Without death life wouldn’t have much of a meaning.
CD

What’s the difference in memory editing, and being delusional?… Could we make up a whole life, with only a few small details holding us to reality?…. I enjoy thinking of our brains as these sort of treasure boxes, and I can hold onto your treasures while you hold on to mine.
MD

The concepts of life and death have always been fascinating to me in nearly any context imaginable.
SK

If nature can be everything, what does it mean to be engaged in nature? Does this mean that one is engaged in self-awareness?
NB

I would love to see where we end up 500 years from now.
AZ

The Title! Everybody talk about it!

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During the PR Meeting we came up with two options for the title, “Sentient Flow”  and “Sentient”.

Since it was consensus that most people do not know want sentient means, I will give you the definition below, but also propose the idea to have an ink blot test (Rorschach test), which would form an abstracted brian as the background image for the post card/pamflet to further clarify.

sen·tient

[sen-shuhnt] adjective

1.having the power of perception by the senses; conscious.

2.characterized by sensation and consciousness.
noun

3.a person or thing that is sentient.
4.Archaic. the conscious mind.
Origin: 
1595–1605;  < Latin sentient-  (stem of sentiēns,  present participle ofsentīre  to feel), equivalent to senti-  verb stem + -ent-
So tell us how y’all feel in comments or during the next class.

Art and Science of the Human Mind : The Beautiful Brain

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The Beautiful Brain | Art and Science of the Human Mind : The Beautiful Brain.

This seems like a great website right up your alley!

“The Beautiful Brain explores the latest findings from the ever-growing field of neuroscience through monthly long-form essays, reviews, galleries, short-form blog posts and more, with particular attention to the dialogue between the arts and sciences. The site illuminates new questions about creativity, the mind of the artist, and the mind of the observer that modern neuroscience is helping us to answer, or at least to provide part of an answer. Instances where art seeks to answer questions of a traditionally scientific nature are also of great interest, and for that reason you will hear from artists as well as scientists on The Beautiful Brain.

Felice Frankel interviews Viktor Koen in American Scientist

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Metaphorically Speaking » American Scientist.   Science photagrapher, Felice Frankel, interviews Viktor Koen about visual metaphors in science.

Viktor Koen (http://viktorkoen.com), born in Thessaloniki, Greece, holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem and a master of fine arts (MFA) degree with honors from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He serves on the faculty of Parsons School of Design and the MFA program of the School of Visual Arts. His images are regularly published in the Times Book Review, TIME, Newsweek and Esquire. Other clients include major book publishers, corporations and newspapers. His award-winning prints are exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. His work is featured in numerous books and publications, and is part of private and institutional collections.

 

 

The Epic TED Blog, part one: It Takes a Village to Write a TED Talk.

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The Epic TED Blog, part one: It Takes a Village to Write a TED Talk.

This is a really great entry on Amanda Palmer’s blog thanking all the people that helped her write, edit and prepare her TED talk.  It is a realistic example of storyboarding, storytelling, performing and many other things. I found it really interesting. I hope you do to.