LASER Talks
Theme: Oneiric Transductions
04.24.2019
7:00-9:00 pm
H Building – room H83
UNIFOR Campus

LIP Gallery exhibition: Oneiric Transductions
Opening reception, room I-17, 9-10 PM
Featured artists:
Mert Akbal / Liz Lessner / Aléxia Brasil

LASER Talks

Theme: Oneiric Transductions

Transduction can be described as the action or process of converting something (or someone?) and particularly energy or a message into another form. How does our perception orchestrate this process when we build oneiric worlds? Exploring this fascinating theme we invite for the LASER Fortaleza this April Liz Lessner – US based artist, Fulbright visiting scholar at the LIP, related to the CrossLAB, Mert Akbal – a cognitive artist and researcher affiliated with the Saar College of Fine Arts (Saarbruecken), Graduate School of European Dream Cultures at the University of Saarland (Saarbruecken), Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Leipzig) and Berlin School of Mind and Brain (Berlin), Professor Carlos Velasquez – PhD in Music by the Concervatoire National de Musique du Raincy, France, artist and researcher interested in the Analytical Psychology, Mythology, and Ancient Music; Professor Aléxia Brasil – PhD in Communication and Semiotics by the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Architect and researcher interested in  Intangible Cultural Heritage and Information Design; Bruno Azambuja, March by the University of Brasília (UnB), Architect and researcher interested in explore the connections between science-fiction cinema utopian and dystopian urban scenarios and the cities we built and inhabit.

Speaker Bios

Mert Akbal is a cognitive artist and researcher. He focuses on visualization and reproduction of cognitive processes -of mind, body and brain- in visual arts, such as oneiric dreams. He is affiliated with four following academic institutions: Saar College of Fine Arts (Saarbruecken), Graduate School of European Dream Cultures at the University of Saarland (Saarbruecken), Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Leipzig) and Berlin School of Mind and Brain (Berlin). Akbals research has been presented at several international conferences: Regional Conference of International Association for the Study of Dreams 2012 at the University of Bern; “International Symposium of Psychomotoric / Performance / Interaction” in Kunstmuseum Stuttgart in 2012; “Conference on Norbert Wiener in 21st Century” by the Institute Of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 2014 in Boston, USA; International Symposiums for Electronic Arts 2016 in Hong Kong and 2018 in Durban; Real of Reality“ Conference 2016 in the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe.

Website: http://mertakbal.com

Contact: m.akbal@hbksaar.de

Elizabeth (Liz) Lessner, US based artist is a Professor in the Art department at George Mason University, USA and Fulbright visiting scholar at the LIP, linked to the CrossLAB research group and art collective. Lessner’s sculptures and installations enact the places where culture and social norms influence the ways we navigate and perform intimacy. They range from objects to installational sculptures that are augmented by the viewer’s performance. These performative installations imply the body or its placement and ask the viewer to physically interact with them. Her current research, The Relational Objects Project, is a set of interactive sculptures focused on the qualia of gestural interaction. These objects are inspired by Lygia Clark's strategy of material and sensory juxtaposition in her Relational Objects. They take as their ground sensations like the feeling of eyelashes brushing one's skin and use embedded electronics to create sensory juxtapositions.

Website: https://lizlessner.com

Contact: liz.lessner@gmail.com

Carlos Velázquez, Mexican artist and researcher, Ph.D. in Ancient Music at the National Conservatory of Musique du Raincy, France with a Master by the same institution.  He was a Post-doctoral research scholar in Philosophy of Education at the University of Minho and in Cultural Studies at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. Professor at the University of Fortaleza his research interests includes Aesthetics, Art History and Mythology. Carlos Velázquez was the coordinator for the B.A. in Visual Arts at UNIFOR. He is the director of the research group MITHO – Transdisciplinary Investigative Movement of the Man  and a research member of the Center of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (CLLC), University of Aveiro. He is an honorary member of the Labyrinth Institute of Analytical Psychology.

Website: http://lattes.cnpq.br/7170692791411775

Contact: caveru@unifor.br

Aléxia Brasil, Architect and researcher, PhD and Master in Communication and Semiotics by the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, she is a professor at the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC). Professor Brasil was a visiting research scholar in Lisboa (2018) and her research interests include Intangible Cultural Heritage and Information Design.

Website: http://lattes.cnpq.br/5770657601431541

Contact: alexiabrasil@icloud.com

Bruno Azambuja, BArch and MArch by the University of Brasília (UnB), Architect and researcher, Azambuja worked as an urban planner for 9 years in Brasília. As a researcher he is interested in explore the connections between science-fiction cinema utopian and dystopian urban scenarios and the cities we built and inhabit.

Website: www.fau.unb.br

Contact: bsazambuja@gmail.com