Listening to Catalyst
Episode 8 - Olivia Parker and Rosamond Purcell: Photographers in Parallel
Olivia Parker and Rosamond Purcell are renowned photographers, and have been colleagues and friends since the late 70’s. This podcast was recorded in anticipation of the panel discussion on October 6, 2019, part of the programming for Olivia Parker’s retrospective at the Peabody Essex Museum.
Olivia Parker began to make and photograph ephemeral constructions in 1973 and is represented in major private, corporate and museum collections. Originally trained as a painter, the Massachusetts-based artist notes that she is drawn to photography for its ability to create a controlled dialogue between nature and abstraction, permanence and ephemerality, and for its ability to use light to sculpt form and define space.
Rosamond Wolff Purcell’s strangely beautiful and often unsettling images of objects from the natural and man-made world have earned her international acclaim. Her collaborations with such diverse intellects as paleontologist and science historian Stephen Jay Gould, magician Ricky Jay, and Shakespeare scholar Michael Witmore testify to both the depth and breadth of her interests: the murky boundary between art and science, the mystery of decomposition and metamorphosis, and the universal human need to collect and classify.
EPISODE 7 - Debra Wise and Lee Mikeska Gardner
Debra Wise and Lee Mikeska Gardner, of the Underground Railway Theater and The Nora Theatre Company respectively are actors and directors and are engaged with both art and science in their theater work, by way of their involvement with Catalyst Collaborative @ MIT. “Each season, URT or The Nora produces at least one play that opens the door between art and science and pushes us to expand our vision of the future, framed by real-time encounters with scientists who are changing our world.” This podcast is part of our program Women in Art and Science, Seekers All, a collaboration with the Broad Institute. This exchange reflects that live conversation which took place on March 14, 2019.
Episode 6 – Brian Knep and Andrew Witt
Media artist Brian Knep and architect/mathematician Andrew Witt, had a terrific conversation as part of a Catalyst to Go program for MACOM, an engineering firm in Lowell, MA. Our topic for that conversation was “Something From Nothing.” This podcast expands on some of the ideas discussed, among them: collaboration and co-creation, failure and profiting from mistakes, being open ended, exploring intent and detours. These are all things artists, scientists and engineers encounter in solving problems and making something manifest that did not exist before. They both push boundaries, they pursue new ways to view objects and the possibilities presented by doing so; Andrew and Brian both approach the world with a sense of wonder.
Episode 5 - Julia Buntaine Hoel
Julia Buntaine Hoel is a conceptual artist, director of SciArt Center, and editor in chief of SciArt Magazine. Julia and Deborah sat down to talk about their respective passion that led each of them to creating organizations devoted to the intersection of art and science, while also maintaining their own artistic practice.
Episode 4 - Lisa Wong
Dr. Lisa Wong is a pediatrician who incorporates music into her daily life and into the daily care of patients. She says that access to the arts is critical to the development of the whole child, and encourages music education for all children. Lisa is passionate about the intersection of arts and healing. She talked with Catalyst Conversations director Deborah Davidson about her own embrace of art and science, and the imperative of sharing both of those gifts with others.
Episode 3 - Tedi Asher
Neuroscientist researcher Tedi Asher may be the only neuroscientist in the US working with curators in an art museum. In this case it is the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. She is working with the curators there to explore and evaluate the visitor’s experience and to help change the way art is presented and understood. This includes not only the type of exhibits, but also the kinds of programming developed in tandem with the exhibitions.
Episode 2 - Joe Akin
Researcher Joe Akin founded a company as he was finishing his graduate work, to better communicate scientific results. The startup ReFigure, which aims to Reuse, Reveal, and Recreate, is devoted not only to helping scientists communicate their results but also to contribute to the broader population’s understanding of science.
Episode 1 - Alan Lightman
Physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur Alan Lightman is someone who literally embodies the synergy between art and science. In his scientific work, Alan has made fundamental contributions to the astrophysics of black holes and is known as the author of the international bestseller Einstein’s Dreams, which has been adapted into dozens of independent theatrical productions on college campuses. His upcoming book is a lyrical meditation on religion and science.