Ars Scientia, a research cluster bringing together artists and physicists in a collaborative residency program, will host its annual symposium on May 15 at UBC Botanical Garden.
Hosted by the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI), the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (the Belkin) and UBC’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, the event is an opportunity to learn more about Ars Scientia’s residency experiences and engage in interdisciplinary discussions with participating artists and physicists.
“This year’s event features exciting discussions that bring together new and ongoing work by artists and scientists as part of Ars Scientia, expanding on their interdisciplinary projects, their processes, and places the journey has taken them that they didn’t anticipate,” said Shelly Rosenblum, Ars Scientia research lead and curator of academic programs at the Belkin.
“What started off as a leap of faith has borne fruit, results, and a lot of promise. What I see now is that this lends itself to a much larger project that brings together the fields of art and science with vast possibility,” Rosenblum said.
Alongside presentations from Ars Scientia collaborators, the event features a keynote lecture by Kavita Philip, President’s Excellence Chair in Network Cultures.
James Day, Ars Scientia Program Manager and a Senior Research Associate at Blusson QMI, said participating in Ars Scientia has made him a better physicist.
“I have become more interested and, I think, more interesting. I take more pictures of my work and where I do it. I try to rely on more than sight when experiencing my world and actively engage with my other senses as I exist in the world,” said Day.
“And it’s not just my behaviour that has changed – my mindset has also shifted. Instead of focusing solely on outcomes, I’m giving greater weight to the process, which has done wonders for my psychology.
“This year’s symposium will undoubtedly raise new questions for us to chase in the future. I hope the audience experiences questions and reflections they weren’t expecting. I hope something challenges them and that they are open to reconsidering a belief.”
UBC’s Research Excellence Cluster program seeded Ars Scientia with the objective of creating programming that fuses the practices of art and science in the emerging field of interdisciplinary research.
To view the event’s program, please click here.
To register, please click here.
*This is a free event open to the public. Please register to reserve your spot, as space is limited.
Banner photo by Kelly Lycan, index card from Andrew Ng’s research documentation (note created on September 8, 1982 at UBC; from extensive collection of research polaroids and index cards rescued by Kirk Madison; gifted to Kelly Lycan during Ars Scientia Residency, 2021).
