Leonardo/ISAST NEWS

LEONARDO, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 77–80, 1999 77© 1999 ISAST Leonardo/ISAST NEWS The Newsletter of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology Call for Participation: Space Art Workshops “Living in Space” is the theme of the Leonardo Space and the Arts Workshop scheduled for 21 March 1999, outside of Paris, France. The 1999 workshop will address cultural issues surrounding the increasing presence of humans and machines in space. In this workshop, we shall cover topics such as space habitats and space architecture; medical and psychological issues of human engineering; and design of machine environments in space. The Leonardo Space and the Arts Workshops (also known as the “Rencontres du 13 avril” Workshops) are annual events co-organized by L’Observatoire Leonardo des Arts et des Technosciences (OLATS), the OURS Foundation and the International Association for Astronautics. Past workshop themes have been: “The Artist as Space Explorer” (1997) and “Space Art, Earth Art” (1998). The workshop for the year 2000 is also in the planning stages: the theme will be “Life in Space,” covering SETI research and astro- and exobiology issues. The year 2000 workshop will be presented in Avignon, France, as part of the European Capital for Culture Programme. Lists of participants and abstracts of past presentations , a bibliography and links can be found on the OLATS Web site at . Artists , scientists, engineers and researchers interested in these issues are invited to contact the organizing committee at . Invenção: Thinking about the Next Millennium Leonardo/ISAST is co-sponsoring, along with ISEA, CAiiASTAR and Instituto Itaú Cultural, the conference “Invenção: Thinking about the Next Millennium,” 25–29 August 1999, São Paulo, Brazil. Invenção (“Seed”) is an opportunity for those working at the creative edge of the arts, sciences and technology to collaborate in the transdisciplinary development of ideas and innovative strategies for life in the next millennium. Invenção will seek to identify key questions and issues that can lead to the radical transformation of culture. Invenção will examine the consequences of the convergence of art, science and technology on our sense of self and human identity, on consciousness and community, as well as on learning and leisure. For further information visit the Invenção Web site at: . Virtual Africa Project: Gallery and Texts As part of Leonardo’s Virtual Africa Project, L’Observatoire Leonardo des Arts et des Techno-Sciences (OLATS) is featuring an on-line gallery of artists’ works and texts on the cultural , social and historical issues of African masks. The Virtual Africa Project explores bridges between art and science in the African context, between ancient and contemporary culture in Africa and between art on the African continent and on other continents. A group of painters and sculptors from Burkina Faso are exhibiting some recent works in the Virtual Africa Gallery: Claude-Marie Kabre, Fernand Nonkouni, Malcolm Payne, Oumou Sy, Sokey Edorh, Adama Sawadogo, and Boly Sambo. The Virtual Africa Web site also includes information about the exhibition “The Other Face,” curated Anne-Marie Bouttiaux at the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren. The exhibition features 150 West African Masks from the Barbier-Mueller Collection. Essays on the Web site (in French) include: “Masks, Mimicry and Metamorphosis in Animal Life,” “Masks and Avatars in Virtual Space,” “The Mask in the Field of Neurobiology,” “The Mask and the Perception/ Representation of Diseases,” and “Survival and meanings of the Mask in Contemporary Arts and Traditions.” Visit the Virtual Africa Web site at . Artists and researchers (in scientific or artistic fields) are invited to contribute to the development of the Virtual Africa Web site. For more information, contact Jocelyne Rotily, 18, rue de la République, Escalier C, 13001 Marseille, France. Email : . The Virtual Africa Web site is a French-language Web site at . Submissions may be in French or English. Leonardo Electronic Almanac: Art and Artificial Life Leonardo/ISAST’s on-line journal, Leonardo Electronic Almanac (http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA) is publishing writings on the topic of Art and Artificial Life. In “Living Sculpture: The Art and Science of Creating Robotic Life,” Yves AMU Klein describes work integrating unusual technologies with his aesthetic sensibilities to create...