Public Artworks and Partnerships: Engineering, Science, and Creative Collaborations

Janet Echelman, Sam Jury, Eli Kintisch, and Peter Boyer

Tuesday, February 5, 2012, 6:30-8 pm

Catalyst Conversations @ Broad Institute
In partnership with ClimateArtPizza and Artists in Context

Janet Echelman is a sculptor and MacArthur fellow who builds living, breathing sculpture environments that respond to wind, water and light, becoming inviting focal points for civic life. British artist Sam Jury works in video, photography and installation to explore filmic representations of trauma and events that embody humanity's relationship to hostile or oppressive environments. Echelman collaborates with Peter Boyer, who works at the design/architecture interface, to develop software to aid her work; Jury partners with Eli Kintisch, who writes about climate change.

The two collaborative teams examined the working methods and relationships between artists and scientists, addressing questions such as: Who benefits from cross-disciplinary collaborations? How does collaborative practice contribute to research and development in each discipline? What role does the audience play in activating the final artwork?

This event was followed by a reception sponsored by Here After Now, a Jury/Kintisch project for a public artwork that visualizes climate extremes in the US Northeast.