Chemical Heritage Foundation
In conjunction with the CHF Museum’s art exhibition Sensing Change, on view July 1, 2013-May 2, 2014, this conference will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore the social, historical and philosophical implications of contemporary art that addresses climate change. Changes in the global climate unfold over temporal and geographical scales that are beyond the scope of the individual human senses or the isolated observer to perceive. Our understanding of these changes is mediated by predictive models and simulations based on data collected via global networks of scientific instruments, yet the processes registered by this network are directly ccessible only in the form of local effects. Sensing climate change, therefore, begins with developing a heightened awareness of one’s local environment, the rhythms of life of its flora and fauna, its weather patterns, water levels, and air quality.
Sensing Change showcases the work of nine contemporary artists—Vaughn Bell, Diane Burko, Roderick Coover, Katie Holton, Stacey Levy, Eve Mosher, Andrea Polli, Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg—and draws upon the CHF’s resources as an institution of historical scholarship, its archival collection of scientific instruments, oral history program, and active program of public engagement in science to mobilize art and science into the service of sensing and reflecting on the implications of climate change for the Philadelphia area. Sensing Change therefore offers a unique opportunity to explore how what we may call the climatic imaginary has been articulated through contemporary and historical art and science as well as to consider the role of art exhibitions in provoking public discourse about climate change and other scientific matters of concern.
The aim of the conference is to foster an intensive cross-disciplinary conversation about the role of the arts in articulating the science and social implications of climate change. A limited number of spaces are available for audience participants, who are encouraged to contribute to post-presentation discussions. Breakfast, lunch and coffee will be provided for all participants.
To attend please RSVP to Dehlia Hannah at dhannah@chemheritage.org AND Rebecca Ortenberg at rortenberg@chemheritage.org
Conference Website: http://dehliahannah.com/events/106-2/
Exhibition Website: http://sensingchange.chemheritage.org/
Contact PACHS at info@pachs.net