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Suzan Edwards, Astronomy
Cornelia Pearsall, English Language & Literature |
Space surrounds us. Space fills us. We shape space and it shapes us. We inhabit it, map it, create it, imagine it. Dancers move across space, writers describe it, engineers design it, and physicists define it. The agoraphobic feel threatened by too much of it; the claustrophobic too little. The conceptual status of space differs across disciplines as well as across different kinds of discourses and modes of representation. But is space real? Is it a physical entity or a symbolic one? Is it absolute or relational? Space has been the site and source of conflict everywhere, across historical periods and locations, causing and shaping the course of wars, imperial expansion, migrations. Space can seem fixed or mutable, a foundational fact or a shifting metaphor.
In this project, we are interested in exploring the place of space in the broadest range of disciplines: Space is as much an intellectual project in the realm of philosophy as of astronomy, of poetry as of physics, and of anthropology as of mathematics. Scientists and mathematicians measure and visualize space employing the minutest or the largest possible scales. Those working in the arts and the humanities may envision space through form, whether architectural, sculptural, or as landscape, as well as by its representation in words, in photographs, in film, on maps. As a dominant perceptual mode, space often converges with time, so that it can be expressed acoustically and rhythmically as spaces between sounds (as in music and poetry). Narratives unfold in places that mark historical or biographical time and delineate both the cultural and physical location of characters. Performances are shaped by the spaces in which they are performed. Space may be gendered and racialized, and may mark the material or symbolic boundaries between social groups of all kinds. Indeed, it is hard to think of a social realm not inscribed in spatial terms. Polities certainly are, whether organized as urban or rural, regional, national, or international, and social movements and wars are located in and often caused by territorial marking and the struggle over it. Religious practices are often housed in distinctive ritualized spaces (temples, cathedrals, mosques) that separate the sacred from the profane and that can themselves become highly contested sites.
Our intention is to open space up to inquiry, recognizing the ways that space can seem simultaneously restricted and boundless, ordered and chaotic; the way it can extend across vast reaches of the universe, or be localized to a home, a room, a grave. In pursuing in this work, we hope to attract to the space of the Kahn Institute a vibrant group of scholars from a range of disciplines and methodological approaches, for what we anticipate will be a year of capacious intellectual engagement in Placing Space.
PROJECT SCHEDULE:
TBD.
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Nicholas Howe, Computer Science
Fraser Stables, Art |
We are a visual species: the human visual cortex is the largest sensory system in the brain. Humans have intentionally created and manipulated visual stimuli to construct images with a specific depictional purpose for at least 35,000 years. Around the world, human beings have long relied on images both to make sense of their environment and to tell stories to one another. The production of images—imaging—has played a central role in our search for beauty and truth in many fields, scientific and artistic, and yet we also create images that are meant to deceive, beguile, and enchant us.
This project will explore the social, aesthetic, and technological aspects of imaging, investigating images as conveyers of meaning, whether innate or contrived. In virtually every field, images have a complex resonance: Within scientific and documentary traditions, certain images may be created or utilized as neutral bearers of information, but in what ways do these same images conceal or limit understanding? What can studies of human culture and society tell us of the human use of images, and how do cultural and social forces impact the way that meaning is experienced? Do spontaneous images differ in kind from those that are composed or planned, or can the circumstances of production matter in some other way? Artists and media producers create images whose essence lies in the varied psychic, emotional, and cerebral responses of the viewer. Certain artists are interested in the phenomenology of images, while others may be more invested in the semiotic content. Within different areas of study, what are the points of convergence between disparate approaches to the image? How can images created for one purpose shape our very memories and beliefs in other unforeseen and unintended ways?
Across disciplines, image manipulations result from wide-ranging methods and intentions, with effect ranging from the most blatant to the very subtle, sometimes even passing unnoticed. Whether by the simple ravages of time or the artifice of Photoshop, by accident or with motive, images can change and transform from their original appearances into related but different forms. Conversely, properly preserved, an image can remain materially unchanged for centuries. How do different disciplines approach preservation, and in what ways do they reconcile the paradox of one moment being preserved for an eternity? Can the transformation of an image create new meaning out of old, and what information is lost? How can we describe the nature of that which persists from one transformation to the next, even as the superficial appearance can change drastically?
We seek to bring together scholars from a wide range of disciplines, whose research involves the use of images to discover truth, scientific or otherwise; those who create or manipulate images destined for human consumption; those who study the creation, role, and function of images in the world; and those who examine the effects of images upon the observer, either to understand how the brain processes them as sensory stimuli or how they affect our subsequent attitudes and beliefs. We believe that by sharing the ways we make, use, and interpret images, across disciplines, we will deepen our understanding of both their potential and their limitations.
PROJECT SCHEDULE:
TBD
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