via LOVE magazine
Sunday, 16 June 2013
'Irreversible Noise'
'Irreversible Noise', Inigo Wilkins, as part of the Pavilion programme
26th May, 6 - 8pm, Mexico Project Space, Leeds
Can everything be then seen as a rhythm, a pattern that is beyond our comprehension, and exists independently of our knowledge of it?
Inigo
Wilkins is a transdisciplinary researcher at the Centre for Cultural
Studies at Goldsmiths College and is addressing predictability, auditory
cognition, topology and computation in relation to noise and music. He
is a fellow working at Mute magazine and the Post Media Lab at Lüneburg
University.
I'm not going to try and explain the structure or separate points
mentioned in the sophisticated and highly complex thesis being developed
as an academic project by Inigo Wilkins. Fractality, entropy,
pathological compulsion, epistemology, inference, neural functionality,
patterns, consequence, action, abductive cognition, systems, aesthesis,
perception, gesture and communication where all highly relevent themes;
needless to say, the lecture was fascinating, if (at times, owing to
terminology) a little difficult to follow.
I'm a huge supporter of transdisciplinary methods of approaching problems and concepts, and for Wilkins, such a method was perfectly applied to the concepts of both 'irreversibility' and 'noise'. Through his talk, Wilkins created an interface and access point for musicians, artists, technologists, anthropologists and philosophers to come together in an attempt to deconstruct these terms - and the resulting investigation was brilliant. It was evident that Wilkins was in the depths of his research; no question was left ambiguous, and the thorough delivery of each section of the presentation was important, allowing us to follow his carved-out line of thought. What was most impressive was Wilkins' knowledge of each of the fields of research and investigation mentioned within the discussion - the transdiciplinary academic has no choice but to specialize in multiple areas of academia in order to fully understand the concept being explored, which certainly can be challenging.
In my opinion, this approach to learning reflects changes in the systems and networks by which we now operate: digital humanities are changing the way we think and operate in the digital age. Although for many members of the audience Wilkins' approach was overwhelming, it is exciting to me that through a single investigation, connection can be made between multiple subjects.
I'm a huge supporter of transdisciplinary methods of approaching problems and concepts, and for Wilkins, such a method was perfectly applied to the concepts of both 'irreversibility' and 'noise'. Through his talk, Wilkins created an interface and access point for musicians, artists, technologists, anthropologists and philosophers to come together in an attempt to deconstruct these terms - and the resulting investigation was brilliant. It was evident that Wilkins was in the depths of his research; no question was left ambiguous, and the thorough delivery of each section of the presentation was important, allowing us to follow his carved-out line of thought. What was most impressive was Wilkins' knowledge of each of the fields of research and investigation mentioned within the discussion - the transdiciplinary academic has no choice but to specialize in multiple areas of academia in order to fully understand the concept being explored, which certainly can be challenging.
In my opinion, this approach to learning reflects changes in the systems and networks by which we now operate: digital humanities are changing the way we think and operate in the digital age. Although for many members of the audience Wilkins' approach was overwhelming, it is exciting to me that through a single investigation, connection can be made between multiple subjects.
For more information, see the links below:
Sunday, 2 June 2013
AAH e-interview
I've been featured on AAH (Association of Art Historians) as part of an e-interview project which hopes to promote contemporary art historical practice:
http://aah.org.uk/day-in-the-life/name/Robinson
http://aah.org.uk/
http://aah.org.uk/day-in-the-life/name/Robinson
http://aah.org.uk/
Fabric tech: Synthetic Spider Silk
Aside from system development in the fashion industry, perhaps the next big trend is/will be the incorporation of really clever fabric - like Qmonos:
"Qmonos is a tough, lightweight artificial spider silk with mass production applications, including everything from car parts to artificial blood vessels. […] Spiber, a startup in northern Japan, is showing off a dress made from synthetic spider silk. The firm is one of several groups looking into how to make and use artificial spider silk, a task that has proven to be very challenging for scientists.The electric-blue dress was created from a material Spiber calls Qmonos (from kumonosu, or “spider web,” in Japanese). The material is extremely strong and more flexible than nylon. […] The company, a spinoff from Tokyo’s Keio University, has applied for 16 patents on its spider silk know-how. It is also teaming up with auto parts maker Kojima Industries to build a plant that can turn out about 220 pounds of the synthetic silk a month. Spiber hopes to have an initial mass production of 10 tons a year starting in 2015."
If this slightly epic intro film is anything to go by, the developers are hoping that Qmonos will be accessible to and known by all of us through a wide variety of industries. The dress looks really beautiful, too. And its 5 times stronger than steel.
[futurescope]
"Qmonos is a tough, lightweight artificial spider silk with mass production applications, including everything from car parts to artificial blood vessels. […] Spiber, a startup in northern Japan, is showing off a dress made from synthetic spider silk. The firm is one of several groups looking into how to make and use artificial spider silk, a task that has proven to be very challenging for scientists.The electric-blue dress was created from a material Spiber calls Qmonos (from kumonosu, or “spider web,” in Japanese). The material is extremely strong and more flexible than nylon. […] The company, a spinoff from Tokyo’s Keio University, has applied for 16 patents on its spider silk know-how. It is also teaming up with auto parts maker Kojima Industries to build a plant that can turn out about 220 pounds of the synthetic silk a month. Spiber hopes to have an initial mass production of 10 tons a year starting in 2015."
If this slightly epic intro film is anything to go by, the developers are hoping that Qmonos will be accessible to and known by all of us through a wide variety of industries. The dress looks really beautiful, too. And its 5 times stronger than steel.
[futurescope]
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