Arts and science collaboration breaks new ground
massey-university
Thu Jan 21 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Arts and science collaboration breaks new ground
Thursday, 21 January 2010, 1:27 pm
Press Release: Massey University
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Arts and science collaboration breaks new ground
An experiment aimed at exploring communication between science and the arts is to be conducted at the Wellington campus.
Sleep scientist Professor Philippa Gander and performance design lecturer Sam Trubridge will host a Waking Art/Science Incubator involving six artists and six scientists from January 30 to February 6.
The one-week workshop will develop ideas first explored in the theatre production Sleep/Wake that used science and performance to investigate the world of the sleeping body.
Clinical psychologists, biologists and sleep specialists will work with choreographers, performance artists, musicians and photographers to explore different perspectives on the daily transition from people dreaming to waking.
The end results will be showcased to the public at an Open Laboratory on the final day, which is Waitangi Day.
Professor Gander says the collaborations will provide challenges for practitioners of each discipline.
“Each participant is used to operating at a high level of expertise within their own discipline, but in the incubator they will be asked to work across disciplines outside their usual professional comfort zone.”
Mr Trubridge says the event promises to be memorable for other reasons too. “It’s probably unprecedented to have a science lab and performance space in the same building and to use them interactively. I think that’s really exciting.’
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The building on Adelaide Rd, Wellington, which is home to the Sleep Wake Research Centre was also used to rehearse and stage initial performances of Sleep/Wake, which was also performed at Auckland last year.
“When we were rehearsing that production everyone came down to morning tea and interesting conversations between the scientists and the artists arose, “ Mr Trubridge says.
Professor Gander and Mr Trubridge were invited to share their experience of Sleep/Wake at a conference last July in Benasque, Spain, which provided a forum for artists and scientists with shared common interests. They also premiered a new work which involved the pair monitoring their own sleep/wake patterns for 40 days.
“I was surprised to find that our work was unique in that we have sought to integrate science into artistic works. In contrast, most other teams were primarily using science to evaluate completed works,” Professor Gander says. She hopes the upcoming workshop will take arts and science collaboration a step further still.
Caption: Sleep scientist Professor Philippa Gander attaches monitoring devices to performance design lecturer Sam Trubridge ahead of measuring his sleep/wake patterns in a collaboration of arts and science set to be repeated at a week-long workshop at the end of the month.
ENDS
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