{"id":1342,"date":"2015-05-20T10:56:22","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T10:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simonings.com\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2015-05-29T10:32:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T10:32:52","slug":"new-scientist-presents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/?p=1342","title":{"rendered":"New Scientist and SCI FI LONDON present…"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE SCIENCE FICTION FUTURE<\/strong><\/h1>\n

With a keynote by multi-award winning science-fiction writer ALASTAIR REYNOLDS, this packed afternoon of short films and discussions explores how science fiction is guiding us towards an uncertain tomorrow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"may30image\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

Saturday May 30<\/strong><\/p>\n

12.30\u20136pm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue Room, mezzanine level<\/strong>
\nBFI Southbank, Belvedere Road<\/strong>
\nLondon SE1 8XT<\/strong><\/p>\n

A free drop-in event<\/strong>
\n(Help us keep track of numbers by registering at\u00a0Eventbrite<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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12.30 Screenings<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Building and testing a Paul-III drawing robot<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patrick Tresset, 2014 (1\u2019 30)<\/p>\n

Patrick Tresset is a French artist who uses robotics to create cybernetic representations of the artist. His robots incorporate research findings from computer vision, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing. @patricktresset<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Willful Marionette<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lilla LoCurto & Bill Outcault, 2014 (2\u2019 46)<\/p>\n

Created during a residency with the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, the marionette is 3D-printed from the scanned image of a human figure and responds in real time to spontaneous human gestures. Their intention was not to create a perfectly functioning robot, but to imbue an obviously mechanical marionette with the ability to solicit a physical and emotional dialogue.<\/p>\n

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Strandbeest<\/strong> (compilation)<\/p>\n

Theo Jansen, 2014 (3\u2019 55)<\/p>\n

In 1990 the Dutch artist Theo Jansen began building large self-actuating mechanisms out of PVC. He strives to equip his creations with their own artificial intelligence so they can avoid obstacles, such as the sea itself, by changing course. @StrandBeests<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Afronauts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cristina De Middel, 2013 (4\u2019 30)<\/p>\n

In 1964, still living the dream of their recently gained independence, Zambia started a space program that would put the first African on the moon. The project was founded and led by Edward Makuka, a school teacher. The United Nations declined their support. Photojournalist Cristina De Middel assembled surviving documents from the project and integrated them with her own imagery. @lademiddel<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Moon<\/strong> (Luna<\/em>, excerpt)<\/p>\n

Pavel Klushantsev, 1965 (2\u2019 00)<\/p>\n

Concluding scenes from a visionary documentary describing how the moon will be developed, from the first lunar mission to the construction of lunar cities and laboratories.<\/p>\n

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Reactvertising\u2122 R&D<\/strong><\/p>\n

John St., 2014 (0\u2019 56)<\/p>\n

John Street is a Canadian creative agency. @thetweetsofjohn<\/a><\/p>\n

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13:00 Introduction<\/h1>\n

Simon Ings<\/strong><\/p>\n

@simonings<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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13:10 Keynote: \u201cOn the Steel Breeze\u201d<\/h1>\n

Alastair Reynolds<\/strong><\/p>\n

@aquilarift<\/a><\/p>\n

Marrying human concerns to monstrously scaled backdrops, Alastair Reynolds<\/strong> is one of our finest writers of science fiction. He spent twelve years within the European Space Agency, designing and building the S-Cam, the world\u2019s most advanced optical camera, before returning to his native Wales in 2008. His most recent novel, appearing in September 2013, is On the Steel Breeze<\/em>, a sequel to Blue Remembered Earth<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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13.30 Screenings<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Centrifuge Brain Project<\/strong><\/p>\n

Till Nowak, 2012 (6\u2019 35) Many thanks to\u00a0ShortFilmAgency Hamburg<\/a>,<\/p>\n

A portrait of the science behind seven experimental fun park rides. Humans are constantly looking for bigger, better, faster solutions to satisfy their desires, but they never arrive at a limit \u2013 it\u2019s an endless search. @TillNowak<\/a><\/p>\n

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SEFT\u20131 Abandoned Railways Exploration Probe<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ivan Puig and Andr\u00e9s Padilla Domene, 2014 (3\u2019 05)<\/p>\n

Puig and Domene (Los Ferronautas)<\/a> built their striking silver road-rail vehicle to explore the abandoned passenger railways of Mexico and Ecuador, an iconic infrastructure now lying in ruins, much of it abandoned due to the privatisation of the railway system in 1995, when many passenger trains were withdrawn, lines cut off and communities isolated. The artists\u2019 journeys, captured in videos, photographs and collected objects, establish a notion of modern ruins.<\/p>\n

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Growth Assembly<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daisy Ginsberg & Sacha Pohflepp, 2009 (3\u2019 33)<\/p>\n

A collection, illustrated by Sion Ap Tomos, of seven plants that have been genetically engineered to grow objects. Once assembled, parts from the seven plants form a herbicide sprayer \u2013 an essential commodity used to protect these delicate, engineered horticultural machines from an older, more established nature. @alexandradaisy<\/a> | @plugimi<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hair Highway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Juriaan Booij, 2014 (4\u2019 28)<\/p>\n

A contemporary take on the ancient Silk Road. As the world\u2019s population continues to increase, human hair has been re-imagined as an abundant and renewable material, with China its biggest exporter. Studio Swine explores how the booming production of hair extensions can be expanded beyond the beauty industry to make desirable, Shanghai-deco style products. @StudioSwine<\/a><\/p>\n

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Magnetic Movie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Semiconductor, 2007 (4\u2019 47)<\/p>\n

Artists Ruth Jarman & Joe Gerhardt (Semiconductor) reveal the secret lives of magnetic fields around NASA\u2019s Space Sciences Laboratories, UC Berkeley, to recordings of space scientists describing their discoveries. Are we observing a series of scientific experiments, or a documentary of a fictional world? @Semiconducting<\/a><\/p>\n

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14:00 Panel: \u201cUnreliable evidence\u201d<\/h1>\n

Museums and galleries are using mocked-up objects, films and documents to entertain, baffle and provoke us \u2014 but what happens when we can no longer tell the difference between them and the real thing?<\/p>\n

Alec Steadman<\/strong>, formerly of The Hut Project<\/a>, joined the arts-science hub The Arts Catalyst<\/a> as Curator in April 2015.<\/p>\n

A curator, producer and artists\u2019 agent, Robert Devcic<\/strong> uses objects to challenge, inform and deepen our ideas of the real world. Through his gallery GV Art<\/a>, he pioneers work that erases the boundary between art and science, fact and fiction.<\/p>\n

Cher Potter\u00a0<\/strong>is a senior editor at the fashion forecasting company WGSN. She analyses social, political and cultural trends and their potential impact on the fashion industry. She is part of the curatorial team for a forthcoming exhibition at the V&A Museum titled The Future: A History.<\/p>\n

Deputy keeper of technologies and engineering at the Science Museum, Doug Millard<\/strong> has just completed work on a major exhibition of Russian space exploration<\/a> to be staged at the Science Museum in September 2015.<\/p>\n

@TheArtsCatalyst<\/a> | @GV_Art<\/a><\/p>\n

Lost in Fathoms<\/strong>
\nAna\u00efs Tondeur & Jean-Marc Chomaz, 2014 (3′ 27)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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14:45 screenings<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Big Dog Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boston Dynamics, 2010 (3\u2019 24)<\/p>\n

BigDog is a rough-terrain robot that walks, runs, climbs and carries heavy loads. BigDog\u2019s four legs are articulated like an animal\u2019s, with compliant elements to absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. @BostonDynamics<\/a><\/p>\n

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Farmer\u2019s Pet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua Allen Harris, 2008 (2\u2019 17)<\/p>\n

US street artist Joshua Allen Harris uses ordinary black garbage and shopping bags to make his pieces, tying them down to subway grates with tape in the hope the strong gusts from the trains will be strong enough to inflate his characters and animate them. @tweetsbyjosh<\/a><\/p>\n

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Shrink<\/strong> (performance at Brucknerhaus, Linz, Austria)<\/p>\n

Lawrence Malstaf, 2009 (4\u2019 25)<\/p>\n

Belgian artist Lawrence Malstaf develops installation and performance art dealing with space and orientation. His projects frequently involve advanced technology and the participation of visitors.<\/p>\n

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Big Dog Beta: – early Big Dog quadruped robot testing<\/strong> (excerpt)<\/p>\n

Seedwell, 2011 (0\u2019 48)<\/p>\n

The somewhat flawed predecessor to Boston Dynamics\u2019 Big Dog robot. Camera by Dana Kruse. @seedwell<\/a><\/p>\n

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First on the Moon<\/strong> (excerpt)<\/p>\n

Aleksei Fedorchenko, 2005 (1\u2019 30)<\/p>\n

Soviet scientists and military authorities managed to launch the first spacecraft 23 years prior to Yuri Gagarin\u2019s flight. Fedorchenko\u2019s first feature tells about everyday life, heroic deeds and tragedy of the first group of the Soviet cosmonauts.<\/p>\n

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15:00 Panel: \u201cWe\u2019re making this up as we go along\u201d<\/h1>\n

Can we ever ready ourselves for the unexpected? And might the games we play now lead us into making the wrong choices in the future?<\/p>\n

Funny and uneasy by turns, Pat Kane<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s annual FutureFest festival for the innovation charity NESTA reflected his belief in the importance of play. A musician, writer and political activist, Kane (appearing via Skype) was also one of the founding editors of the Sunday Herald<\/em> newspaper.<\/p>\n

Rob Morgan<\/strong><\/a> develops VR titles, including shooters, thrillers and action\/comedies, for major game studios, charities, publishers and indies. He was a contributor to the award-winning browser game Samsara and the ARG Unreal City, collaborated with J K Rowling on Pottermore, and has just finished writing the script for the upcoming The Assembly for Morpheus & Oculus Rift.<\/p>\n

Andy Franzkowiak<\/strong><\/a> has flooded Edinburgh with zombies, sent Siemens\u2019 urban museum The Crystal to 2050, and built the solar system in Deptford. He has previously worked with Punchdrunk, the Southbank Centre and the BBC. Mary Jane Edwards<\/a><\/strong>, who develops projects focused on cultural regeneration, social policy and social finance, is his new partner in crime in attempts to blur the distinction between art, education and science.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

@theplayethic<\/a> | @AboutThisLater<\/a> | @shrinking_space<\/a><\/p>\n

Afrogalactica: a short history of the future
\n<\/strong>(performance excerpt)
\n<\/span>Kapwani Kiwanga, 2011 (4′ 50)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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15:45 screenings<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Corner Convenience: \u201cHoodie\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Near Future Laboratory, 2012, (1\u2019 40)<\/p>\n

Near Future Laboratory\u2019s design-fiction workshop used print and film to explore the future as a place we will, inevitably, take for granted. Its ruling assumption was that the trajectory of all great innovations is to trend towards the counter of your corner convenience store, grocer, 7\u201311 or petrol station. @nearfuturelab<\/a><\/p>\n

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Reactvertising\u2122<\/strong><\/p>\n

John St., 2014 (3\u2019 12)<\/p>\n

@thetweetsofjohn<\/a><\/p>\n

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New Mumbai<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tobias Revell, 2012 (9\u2019 17)<\/p>\n

During the Indian Civil War the Dharavi slums of Mumbai were flooded with refugees. Sometime later a cache of biological samples appeared through the criminal networks of Mumbai. Revell explains how a\u00a0refugee community managed to turn these genetically-engineered narcotics\u00a0into a new type of infrastructure.\u00a0@tobias_revell<\/a><\/p>\n

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Tender \u2013 it\u2019s how people meat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcello G\u00f3mez Maureira, 2015 (0\u2019 52)<\/p>\n

Tender is the easy way to connect with new and interesting meat around you. @dandymaro<\/a><\/p>\n

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Aurora, the Aura City<\/strong> (excerpt)<\/p>\n

Urban IxD, 2013 (3\u2019 25)<\/p>\n

A design fiction created during the Urban IxD summer school in Split, Croatia during August 2013, and led by Tobias Revell and Sara Bozanic. It is 2113. Cities have undergone profound change. A sharing economy holds sway, but the desire for efficiency and optimization has led to the development of highly sophisticated sharing systems that preclude social interaction. The streets have emptied\u2026 @tobias_revell<\/a> | @me_transmedia<\/a><\/p>\n

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Corner Convenience: \u201cDrunk\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Near Future Laboratory, 2012, (1\u2019 50)<\/p>\n

@nearfuturelab<\/a><\/p>\n

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16:00 presentations<\/h1>\n

Rachel Armstrong<\/strong> creates new materials that possess some of the properties of living systems, and can be manipulated to \u201cgrow\u201d architecture. Through extensive collaboration, she builds and develops prototypes of sustainable and self-sustaining metabolic buildings.<\/p>\n

@livingarchitect<\/a><\/p>\n

Lydia Nicholas<\/strong>, is a researcher in collective intelligence at Nesta and founding member of the Future Anthropologies Network. She speaks\u00a0at conferences about bodies and biology and numbers and making in various combinations. Her favourite bacteria is Paenibacillus vortex<\/em>.<\/p>\n

@LydNicholas<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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16:15 panel: \u201cThis is not a drill\u201d<\/h1>\n

Rachel Armstrong and Lydia Nicholas join Georgina Voss, Paul Graham Raven and Regina Peldszus to explore how mock-ups, simulations and rehearsals are shaping the real world.<\/p>\n

Georgina Voss<\/strong> co-wrote the \u201cBetter Made Up\u201d report from NESTA examining the co-influence of science fiction and innovation, and is currently is a resident at Lighthouse Arts, using 3D print technology to promote women\u2019s health in remote regions.<\/p>\n

Paul Graham Raven<\/strong> is a postgraduate researcher in infrastructure futures and theory at the University of Sheffield. He is also a science fiction writer, literary critic and essayist.<\/p>\n

Via Skype, Regina Peldszus<\/strong><\/a> explores how humans and technology interact. She was an Internal Research Fellow with the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany. She is now at Leuphana University of L\u00fcneburg, researching the ethics of simulation.<\/p>\n

@gsvoss<\/a> | @PaulGrahamRaven<\/a><\/p>\n

Forever Future
\n<\/strong>Sacha Pohflepp, 2010\u00a0(4′ 24)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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17:00 Screening<\/h1>\n

Fugitive Futurist: A Q-riosity by \u201cQ\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaston Quiribet, 1924 (12\u2019 00; silent)<\/p>\n

An on-the-run inventor claims to have invented a camera which looks into the future, and reveals a grim destiny for London landmarks like Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n

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17:15 Discussion and screenings<\/h1>\n

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Public Tracks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hubert Blanz, 2010 (1\u2019 25)<\/p>\n

Excerpt from an audio\/video installation. Over the last few years the importance of virtual social networks has greatly increased and has significantly changed the way we communicate.<\/p>\n

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Brilliant Noise<\/strong>
\nSemiconductor, 2006 (5\u2019 50)<\/p>\n

After sifting through hundreds of thousands of computer files, made accessible via open access-archives, Semiconductor bring together some of the sun\u2019s finest unseen moments. These images have been kept in their most raw form, revealing the activities of energetic particles. The soundtrack highlights the hidden forces at play upon the solar surface, by directly translating areas of intensity within the image brightness into layers of audio manipulation. @Semiconducting<\/a><\/p>\n

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Singular Occurrence of a Fall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ana\u00efs Tondeur & Jean-Marc Chomaz, 2014 (1\u2019 13)<\/p>\n

Produced with PhD students during an art and science workshop at Cambridge University, this is one of a series of video pieces that reconstruct in the laboratory the effects of an earthquake on the lost island of Nuuk.<\/p>\n

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@newscientist
\n<\/em>@CultureLabNS
\n<\/em>#SFL15<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE SCIENCE FICTION FUTURE With a keynote by multi-award winning science-fiction writer ALASTAIR REYNOLDS, this packed afternoon of short films and discussions explores how science fiction is guiding us towards an uncertain tomorrow. Saturday May 30 12.30\u20136pm Blue Room, mezzanine … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[8,159,165,180,232,86],"class_list":["post-1342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","tag-art","tag-culturelab","tag-design-fiction","tag-film","tag-new-scientist","tag-science-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1342"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1392,"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions\/1392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simonings.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}