In "Reading Frankenstein," opening at UC Irvine's Beall Center for Art and Technology May 30, a 21st Century scientist named Mary Shelley discovers that one of her failed experiments is running amok in her laboratory; at the same time as the novel "Frankenstein" is haunting her imagination. Using layered digital projections, brain imaging and a virtual monster interacting with a live human actor, "Reading Frankenstein" examines the ethical repercussions of scientific research from the monster's point of view. It is a multi-media confrontation between an artificial life form and its creator. A work-in-progress, it also investigates the physical and cultural dimensions of reading.

The workshop performance will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31 and at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 1. The show is free, but seating is limited. Call (949) 824-6206 to reserve a seat. Each 30-minute performance will be followed by a 30-minute discussion led by the creators of the piece--all UCI faculty members. "Reading Frankenstein" is an innovative collaboration between Annie Loui, associate professor of drama, and Antoinette LaFarge, assistant professor of studio art, from the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, and James Fallon, professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the UCI College of Medicine.

"For years I've wanted to do a piece about the vicarious nature of reading--how the hieroglyphics of text on a page turn into images in your head that you then interact with," Loui said. "We chose Frankenstein because it's the archetypical story of science and morality, and the very human story of taking responsibility for your actions."

Adds LaFarge, "Civilization consists of a long series of attempts to define and redefine what it is to be human, what it is to be monstrous, what it is to be alive and what it is simply to 'be' at all. I hope our piece adds something to this process."

Fallon, who serves as neuroscience advisor to the piece, is particularly interested in where art and the brain merge in their disciplines and how creativity is generated in the brain. "I was able to contribute to the show by explaining and showing what areas of the brain might be involved in creating an artificial person--a virtual one or a real synthetic monster. There's both scientific realism and creativity in the performance."

According to Nohema Fernandez, associate dean and director of the Beall, "Reading Frankenstein" is the type of art that the Beall Center will be showing more of in the future--collaborative, interdisciplinary and involving a research component.

The half-hour workshop performance represents an early stage in the development of the full piece and provides an uncommon inside glimpse into a cross-disciplinary creative process as it unfolds. "Reading Frankenstein" is sponsored by the Beall Center for Art and Technology and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Additional support was provided by the UC Institute for Research in the Arts and by the UCI Council on Research, Computing and Library Resources through a multi-investigator faculty research grant.