Leonardo Network News

The Newsletter of the International Society of the Arts, Sciences, and Technology and of l’Observatoire Leonardo des Arts et Technosciences

In Memoriam: Leonardo Honorary Editor Ray Bradbury

Leonardo Honorary Editor Ray Bradbury passed away 5 June 2012. Bradbury was a longtime Leonardo Editorial Board member. He had been a friend and colleague of Leonardo Founding Editor Frank Malina. Their connection was an interest in space travel, which began to develop in the 1920s and 1930s as its reality was also being explored by science fiction writers. Writers such as Jules Verne, Leonardo Advisor Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury were exemplars of the shared intellectual roots of a cultural imaginary that developed symbiotically among the arts, sciences and engineering. In some cases, writers, such as Bradbury anticipated future developments; in other cases, they warned of possible dystopias. <www.raybradbury.com/>

Network for Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Design (SEAD) Position Paper

Innovation stemming from interdisciplinary creativity is a major contributor to the development of new, sustainable economies and harmonious, cooperating societies. Key individuals in the Leonardo network are participating in the development of the Network for Science, Engineering, Art and Design (SEAD), which facilitates research, dialogue and communication among those working in these areas. Read the document explaining the genesis and organization of the SEAD Network, as well as its goals and mission: <leonardo.info/isast/SEAD-2012-paper.html>.

NEA Blog Post: Making Science Intimate, by Roger Malina

Roger Malina, Leonardo Executive Editor and Distinguished Professor of Art and Technology and Professor of Physics at the University of Texas, Dallas, was invited in summer 2012 to write a blog post for the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works blog. In “Making Science Intimate: Translating and Integrating the Arts and Humanities with Biology and Medicine,” Malina discusses how artists and arts organizations are able to provide an intimate context for processing scientific and medical data and the ability to translate these into culturally meaningful forms. Read the blog post and participate in the conversation: <1.usa.gov/O9yY14>.

MIT Press Journals Podcast Series, Episode 17: Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks

MIT Press Journals Podcast Series, Episode 17, features Maxi-milian Schich, Isabel Meirelles and Roger Malina discussing the creation of the new article collection Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks, which explores the application of the science of complex networks to art history, archeology, visual arts, the art market and other areas of cultural importance. Produced in partnership with the ATEC program at the University of Texas, Dallas, and MIT Press, the Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks e-book includes 25 articles and documents the work of 45 leading researchers. Listen to the podcast: <www.mitpressjournals.org/page/podcast_episode17_LEON>.

Leonardo Education and Art Forum Welcomes David Familian as New Chair-Elect

Leonardo Education and Art Forum (LEAF) is delighted to welcome David Familian as its new Chair-Elect. David is the Artistic Director of the Beall Center for Art and Technology at the University of California at Irvine. He started working at the Beall in 2005 and has curated one-person exhibitions of Shih Chieh Huang, Golan Levin, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Chico MacMurtrie, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Nam June Paik and Victoria Vesna. He is currently working on DataVIz: Information, a show of artists and designers who use data visualization. He also recently initiated Black Box Projects, collaborations/exhibitions of artists working with scientists in areas such as cognitive robotics, computational genetics and information science. An artist and educator, Familian received his BFA from California Institute of the Arts (1979) and his MFA from University of California at Los Angeles (1986). For the past 25 years he has taught studio art and critical theory in art schools and universities including Otis College of Art and Design, Min-neapolis College of Art and Design, Santa Clara University, the San Francisco Art Institute and UC Irvine. Although Familian began his artistic career as a photographer, since 1990 new media has become integral to both his own practice and his work as a consultant for individual artists, museums and universities such as Walker Art Center, University of Minnesota and the Orange County Museum of Art. Familian joins...