Science & the Arts at CUNY Graduate Center

The Institute For Figuring is an organization dedicated to “the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts.”

The IFF has organized a world-wide crew of volunteer needleworkers to crochet a simulated coral reef, to draw attention to the reefs’ threatened status.  2008 is the international year of coral reefs. The IFF writes:

 “This past week the New York Times ran a lovely article about the project in a lead-up to the exhibitions we’ll be having in New York City. We are pleased to announce there will be two exhibitions of the Crochet Reef in New York, both opening Saturday, April 5th 2008. The shows are being hosted by the New York Institute of the Humanities.

- One exhibition will be at NYU’s “Broadway Windows” space - a series of large old department store windows at the corner of Broadway and 10th St.

The other will be at the Winter Gardens at the World Financial Center in Battery Park City, again, in a huge windowed display space. Both exhibitions will look like giant aquariums. We are also pleased to announce that the Crochet Reef will be showing in London at the Hayward Gallery over the summer (June 6 - August 18.) More information about these exhibitions will be coming as they open. In the meantime crafters have been unleashed across New York and London to create their own “sister city” reefs. We are delighted to have the support here of the New York Crochet Guild, Harlem Knitting Circle, the UK Craft Council and the Norton Family Foundation. Much new information and many gorgeous new photos of the reef and its amazing contributors are now available on the IFF website.”

I have been hearing from people who are weaving science and classical music in performance. I sense a trend.

In November 2005 we produced an evening with Galileo’s Daughters, an ensemble that performs music from the era of Galileo. Dava Sobel, renowned author of the best selling book Galileo’s Daughter, read excerpts from her book in the intervals between the musical selections. You can listen to a podcast.

Kate Light is the author of three volumes of poetry and a professional violinist. Light’s recent production, Einstein’s Mozart, focuses on the inspiration Einstein found in Mozart’s music. The Colorado Chamber Players commissioned the piece, which features original text interlaced with live performances of Mozart string quartets.

On January 30 — two weeks ago — we presented Galileo’s Muse, written and produced by Ben Wolff. Wolff played the cello in an ensemble that performed 16th and 17th C music, including compositions by Galileo’s father and brother. Wolff narrated the story of Galileo’s investigations that resulted in the Law of Falling Bodies. He included a demonstration on a recreation of the apparatus Galileo probably used and the audience was thrilled – they got it. A podcast will be available soon — I’ll give an update. Spoiler: the lute, Wolff asserts, was Galileo’s muse.

Ensemble for the Romantic Century – “Theatrical Concerts: Transforming your experience of chamber music” — are working on a piece about Jules Verne “which centers on the role of imagination as a catalyst in both arts and sciences.” The piece will premier in June.

Since 2000, Science & the Arts has produced 100 public events that bring science to the public through the arts. See our list of current and past programs to get an idea of the breadth of our offerings. Occasionally we have presented a program outside of our building – at a lab, a high school, or a street fair – and we have worked with institutions in the US and abroad to encourage such programming, but our audience to date has been almost entirely in New York City. Now we hope to interact with you, wherever you are.

Write for this blog. We would like to receive your reviews, thought pieces, and news on any of the arts – theater, film, visual art, dance, literature, etc – when the artform contains ideas from science or math. Or write about science informed by art.

Your words will reach the eyeballs of the interdisciplinary world.
Submit your blog entries to me, Adrienne Klein, co-Director of Science & the Arts, at aklein@gc.cuny.edu with “Blog” in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you.