On Saturday 10 September, Dr David Glowacki - Scientist, Artist and Cultural Theorist - will be taking centre stage at the STEAM Symposium: Laboratory of Visual Exploration at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead. The event aims to showcase the importance of visual literacy and the role of drawing across the curriculum and diverse national industries, and is being organised by The Big Draw in partnership with The University of Lincoln and BALTIC.
Find out why we are so very excited that he will be joining us and how you take part too...
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Who is David Glowacki?
Dr David Glowacki is a scientist, artist, and cultural theorist. He has appointments as a Royal Society Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, and as a visiting scholar at Stanford University. He heads up an eclectic research group joint between the School of Chemistry and the Department of Computer Science. He is the founder of Bristol-based tech company Interactive Scientific (iSci), and also led development of the danceroom spectroscopy digital science-meets-art installation and the Hidden Fields dance performance. These pieces have introduced the beauty and complexity of the atomic world to tens of thousands of people across the Europe, the USA, and Asia.
Multi-award winning danceroom Spectroscopy (dS) is an interactive visualisation of the atomic nano-world, with a twist: it puts you in the picture. Fusing 3D imagery with computer vision and rigorouse molecular dynamics, dS allows you to see your own energy field, and use it to interact with the otherwise invisible atomic world. Take a look for yourself…
Hidden Fields 2014 from danceroom Spectroscopy on Vimeo.
Where has this curious creative chemist come from?
Originally from Milwaukee, David came to the UK in 2003 as a Fulbright scholarship finalist to study cultural theory at the University of Manchester, subsequently completing a PhD in physical chemistry at Leeds before arriving at Bristol.
Partially based in Bristol’s Centre for Computational Chemistry, he has collaborations across several areas of chemistry, using tools from classical and quantum mechanics to understand a range of nano-physics relevant to gases, solids, and liquids.
Why are we so excited that he’s agreed to speak at the STEAM Symposium?
David’s inimitable approach to investigating molecular physics has seen him published across a range of subjects and publications, including high-level scientific journals and also well-known arts journals. He has a global reputation spanning both the scientific and creative worlds. His artistic work has been experienced by well over 100,000 people across Europe, the USA, and Asia – featured at a number of well-known venues like Bristol’s Arnolfini, the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, London’s Barbican Arts Centre, the ZKM | Centre for Art and Media Technology, and Stanford University Art Institute, the Bhutan International Festival, and many others.
What can you expect?
Here are a few words from the man himself…
“Over the years, I’ve become increasingly interested what I call ‘the aesthetics of scientific imagination’ – i.e., the “design” decisions entailed in scientific visualization. This is particularly important in domains which cannot be seen with the naked eye, because our scientific intuition is guided by the aesthetic representations we use to imagine phenomena which are otherwise invisible. In fact I would almost go so far to claim that imagery is the reality in these domains, profoundly impacting how we communicate these ‘realities’, in both research & educational contexts. This is a radical transformation in how we think about scientific reality, which empowers our aesthetic imagination to help us construct the ways that we imagine the world around us.
Over the last few years, my group’s work in digital art has in fact driven a range of scientific research outcomes – e.g., the algorithms we’ve designed to make artworks have been fast enough to accelerate our molecular research. I like this research paradigm, with aesthetic enquiry and scientific enquiry locked in mutual dialogue, each pushing one another into new territories.”
Intersted? Why not come along too?
We at The Big Draw are delighted that Dr Glowacki has agreed to join us on Saturday 10 September in what promises to be a fascinating exploration into visual literacy and the role of drawing across the curriculum and diverse national industries. A small number of tickets starting at just £25 are still up for grabs so don't delay if you want to take part in the STEAM Symposium. Find out more here.