INTRODUCTION
Our blue planet, spinning like a jewel in our solar system, has been perceptually defined by the technology of each era, from believing the Earth was flat, to the scientific understanding that it spins on its axis and has gravitational pull, to being part of just one of many solar systems. In terms of scale, humans are too small to viscerally comprehend our planet’s magnitude and the dynamics of its interconnected physical systems. We therefore break the concepts down into smaller parts, collect data and physical specimens of all kinds, and invent instruments to measure and track physical phenomena like earthquakes, tornados, and hurricanes. However, we still cannot grasp the “big picture” of planet Earth unless we read, look at photos, and finally… use our imagination to construct it!

For Digital’2010, ASCI invites artists and scientists to submit digital prints that reflect their perceptions of our planet. Are these perceptions changing as we learn more about Earth from explorers, scientists, and artists? What is the relationship between all living things and planet Earth? What images are evoked by calling it the blue planet or the peaceful planet or the changing planet?  What is the human impact on the whole planet? What is our concern for its future?

Art co-juror, Maddy Rosenberg, is a printmaker, independent curator, and owner/director of Central Booking in DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY. Opened in 2009, one of her two gallery spaces and its programming is devoted to shows of science-inspired artwork.

Science co-juror, Patrick Hamilton, is the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Director, Environmental Sciences and Earth-System Science. He is currently heading-up the Future Earth Initiative, an NSF-supported set of exhibits and programs that explores the implications of human impact on the Earth.

Join international panel of over 30 scientists, artists, historians, writers and other experts as they discuss the nexus between visual culture and evolution. This past year, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, a number of festivals, celebrations, and conferences have been held around the world focusing on the impact of the concept of evolution. This symposium will be a platform to discuss the ideas generated from the activities of the past year and the present impact of evolutionary thought on both art and visual culture. Visit http://vcande.blogspot.com/ to follow the discussion.

Visual Culture and Evolution: An Online Symposium is co-sponsored by Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS); the Center for Design, Art, and Visual Culture (University of Maryland, Baltimore County); and Johns Hopkins University’s Master of Arts in Museum Studies Program.

Art For A Modern India, 1947-1980

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/sharma_art.html>

by Rebecca M. Brown
Reviewed by Aparna Sharma

Between Earth and Sky. Our Intimate Connections to Trees <http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/baetens_between.html>

by Nalini M. Nadkarni
Reviewed by Jan Baetens

Chris Marker: La Jetée

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/leggett_chris.html>

by Janet Harbord
Reviewed by Mike Leggett

Exceptional State: Contemporary U.S. Culture and the New Imperialism

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/zilberg_exceptional.html>

by Ashley Dawson and Malini Johar
Schueller, Editors
Reviewed by Jonathan Zilberg

French Theory: How Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, & Co. Transformed the
Intellectual Life of the United States
<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/ferng_french.html>

by François Cusset, translated from
the French by Jeff Fort, with Josephine Berganza and Marlon Jones
Reviewed by Jennifer Ferng

The Hidden Face of Fear

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/pennisi_fear.html>

by Enrico Cerasuolo & Sergio
Fergnachino, Directors
Reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi

Milosevic on Trial

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/zilberg_milosevic.html>

by Michael Christoffersen
Reviewed by Jonathan Zilberg

Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/pennisi_philosophy.html>

by Hermann Weyl, with new introduction
by Frank Wilczek, based on translation by Olaf Helmer
Reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi

The Poetics of DNA

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/zilberg_poetics.html>

by Judith Roof
Reviewed by Jonathan Zilberg

Racing The Beam: The Atari Video Computer System <http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/jackson_racing.html>

by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost
Reviewed by Robert Jackson

The Space Where You Go to Listen: In Search of An Ecology of Music <http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/chamberlain_space.html>

by John Luther Adams
Reviewed by Franc Chamberlain

The Theatre of Insects: Photographs by Jo Whaley <http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/smithers_theater.html>

by Jo Whaley, Photographs; Linda
Wiener and Deborah Klochko, Essays
Reviewed by Peter Smithers

Theodor W. Adorno: An Introduction

<http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/pennisi_adorno.html>

by Gerhard Schweppenhäuser; James
Rolleston, trans.
Reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi

Third Person. Authoring and Exploring in Vast Narratives <http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/sept2009/baetens_third.html>

by Pat Harrigan and Noah
Wardrip-Fruin, Editors
Reviewed by Jan Baetens


Click here for previous reviews
<http://leonardo.info/reviews/reviews2009.html>

New Materials Received <http://leonardo.info/reviews/materials.html>

 

Arts and/or Science educators may join this pilot project where classrooms will correspond with the expedition crew comprising 18 international artists, architects, and scientists.

The Arctic Circle 2009 Education program will encourage a discourse between the student– the educator–the artist–and the scientist. The procedure will involve email correspondence (questions and comments from classrooms) to be published on The Arctic Circle Blog, leading up to and during the expedition, and responded to by our crew so we may explore, together, the many topics of interest that we will encounter.

Ideally, we will look for the opportunity to communicate with collaborating art and science classrooms from the same school.

Communication will be accomplished during the expedition via satellite communication. The Blog will be updated daily.

Educators interested to become involved are asked to email a brief letter of interest and introduction (~150-300 words) before Sept 10th, 2009 to edu@thearcticcircle.org

Those selected to participate in this pilot project will be given a full set of guidelines on how to participate.

There will be a network of ~30 educators selected for this project from North America, the EU and Asia.

Questions may be directed to edu@thearcticcircle.org

Program details may be seen at http://www.thearcticcircle.org

An ambitious exhibition, Mrs. Delany and her Circle, opening September 24 at the Yale Center for British Art,
will be the first to survey the full range of Mary Delany’s creative
endeavors, revealing the complexity of her engagement with natural
science, art, and design. Her prolific craft activities served to
cement bonds of friendship and allowed her to negotiate the interlinked
artistic, aristocratic, and scientific networks that defi ned her
social world. A range of approximately 130 objects, including drawings,
collages, embroidered textiles, shells, botanical specimens, and
manuscripts related to her interest in landscape gardening, will
reflect the variety of her activities. The exhibition will also feature
a floral display inspired by Mrs. Delany’s designs, as well as a
site-specific installation by London-based artist Jane Wildgoose. Mrs.
Delany and her Circle has been co-organized by the Yale Center for
British Art and Sir John Soane’s Museum. The Center is the only North
American venue for the exhibition.