CHAIRS: Andrea Polli and Susan Latham

How would an artist and a scientist interpret the same data set? Mixed media artist Adrien Segal and computer scientist Stephen Guerin both interpret data to understand the nature of wildfire. Adrien physicalizes data into sculptures of wildfire events, while Stephen uses augmented reality simulations to interact with wildfire behavior. With the rise in large-scale wildfires in recent years, their conversation is especially prescient in broaching the need for both collecting and humanizing data for specialized audiences and the general public.

Sculpture is an aesthetic language I use to bridge the gap between reason and emotion. Adrien Segal

REGISTERS HERE

Adrien Segal is an artist whose work addresses the deep disconnect between scientific rationality and the emotional nature of human experience, seeking to transcend the divide from objective scientific data towards that of experiential knowledge. Drawing from history, narrative, emotion, and perception, her artwork

Based in Oakland, California, Segal has exhibited her work internationally in galleries and museums. It has also been published in several books and academic journals. She has held visiting artist positions at San Diego State University and at California College of the Arts, where she also received a BFA. In addition to teaching, she pursues her creative practice out of her studio on the former Naval Base in Alameda, California, US. adriensegal.com

Stephen Guerin is founder and CEO of Simtable, an augmented reality and physical simulation system, and President of Redfish group, a complex adaptive systems consultancy, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, US. Stephen has directed over 50 projects in complex adaptive systems for national and international clients. His work centers on visualization, modeling and the design of self-organizing systems.

Guerin served on the National Science Foundation's Human & Social Dynamics Grant Review Committee and has been a plenary speaker at simulation and visualization conferences. He was Founder of Santa Fe Complex, a community R&D project lab in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute Complex Systems Summer School.

SciArt Santa Fe and UNM College of Fine Arts in conjunction with LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) present “From Visualization to Physicalization: Wildfire Data in Art and Science,” a conversation with mixed-media sculptor Adrien Segal and computer scientist Stephen Guerin on their respective approaches to physicalizing wildfire data in art and science. Presented in coordination with Leonardo / ISAST (International Society of Art, Science and Technology), Biocultura Santa Fe, The University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts and Currents Virtual 2020.

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LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) Talks is Leonardo's international program of evening gatherings that bring artists and scientists together for informal presentations and conversations. LASER Talks were founded in 2008 by Bay Area LASER Chair Piero Scaruffi and are in over 30 cities around the world. To learn more about how our LASER Hosts and to visit a LASER near you please visit our website. 

The mission of the LASERs is to provide the general public with a snapshot of the cultural environment of a region and to foster interdisciplinary networking.