Organized by the UCLA Art|Sci Center, the two-day symposium will take place in the auditorium of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA (CNSI) and will include presentations, film screenings, discussions and social gatherings.
The symposium emerges in response to the dominance of the visual in academia and in Western culture at large and draws from a growing body of research and critical study on the auditory dimension of experience.
Commonalities among the various approaches to sonic investigation present unique opportunities for fostering new connections across disciplines, and the resulting convergence of minds, perspectives and research will help give rise to new modalities of thought and an enhanced understanding and appreciation of the aural world around us.
Thursday, March 5
The first day of the symposium will feature presentations related to technologically mediated forms of listening -- from the nanoscale of cells to the macroscale of solar winds -- and similarly mediated modes of musical expression. The field of acoustic ecology will also be highlighted, with keynotes on animal communication, alarm calling and predator detection, as they apply to conservation biology and national security. The day will conclude with a research presentation on auditory illusions, followed by a reception.
Friday, March 6
Day Two of the symposium will focus on critical studies of sound and science, as they relate to art, philosophy, music and experience. Topics will include aural epistemology, navigational soundscapes for the blind, artistic approaches to sonification, the aesthetics of natural radio, the exploration of music and technology through semiotics and ethnographic study, and the study of brain networks for tracking musical structure.
Symposium presenters will include Peter Narins and Daniel Blumstein, of UCLA; Ricardo Dominguez, Miller Puckette and Diana Deutsch, of UC San Diego; James Marston and Curtis Roads, of UC Santa Barbara; Petr Janata, James Crutchfield and Douglas Kahn, of UC Davis; Rene Lysloff and Paulo Chagas, of UC Riverside; Laura Peticolas, of UC Berkeley; Veit Erlmann, of the University of Texas; and Andrea Polli, of the University of New Mexico.
For a full schedule of speakers and events, as well as directions, please visit http://artsci.ucla.edu/sound or call (310) 794-2118.
Talks will be streamed live during the symposium on the Art|Sci Web site.
"Sound + Science" is organized by Tyler Adams of the UCLA Art|Sci Center and is made possible by the support of the University of California Digital Arts Research Network, the CNSI and UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture. All symposium events are free and open to the public. Campus parking is available for $9 in Lot 9 (enter the campus from Westwood Boulevard).
The UCLA Art|Sci Center & Lab works to blur the line between the "two cultures" of art and science and to help usher in a new culture of creative thinkers from the arts and sciences who combine their knowledge and skills to come up with innovations, collaborations and new ways to help heal the planet. The center is located in the Broad Art Center building, and the lab is located at the California NanoSystems Institute.
The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) is an integrated research center operating jointly at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara whose mission is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations for discoveries in nanosystems and nanotechnology; train the next generation of scientists, educators and technology leaders; and facilitate partnerships with industry, fueling economic development and the social well-being of California, the United States and the world. The CNSI was established in 2000 with $100 million from the state of California and an additional $250 million in federal research grants and industry funding. At the institute, scientists in the areas of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematics, computational science and engineering are measuring, modifying and manipulating the building blocks of our world -- atoms and molecules. These scientists benefit from an integrated laboratory culture enabling them to conduct dynamic research at the nanoscale, leading to significant breakthroughs in the areas of health, energy, the environment and information technology.