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Thursday, 26 October 2006 | Levent OZLER
Speed of Light Design Conference
Museum of Arts & Design : October 27-28
Interdisciplinary Conference on Light to Be Presented by Museum of Arts & Design with Parsons the New School for Design
Innovators in Physics, Science and Technology, Architecture, Design, and the Visual and Performing Arts Will Discuss How Their Work with Light is Re-envisioning Our World
The Museum of Arts & Design will present Speed of Light, its Second Biennial New Materials and Technologies Conference, on Friday October 27, and Saturday, October 28, 2006. The interdisciplinary conference will bring together international leaders in the fields of physics, science and technology, architecture, design, and the visual and performing arts to discuss their work with light in a series of lively panel discussions and illustrated presentations. The symposium will be held at The New School's Tishman Auditorium (66 West 12th Street, New York City).
Speed of Light is organized by the Museum of Arts & Design. Chee Pearlman of Chee Company is the guest program director. The conference is presented in collaboration with Parsons The New School for Design.
"We created this biennial conference series to investigate new materials and technologies that are changing the face of design today," says Holly Hotchner, director of the Museum of Arts & Design. "These conferences support the Museum's commitment to embracing the rapid changes in the fields of art and design. Speed of Light follows our highly successful inaugural conference Anything Goes: Form and Function in a Fluid World, which the Museum organized with Aaron Betsky in 2004."
Chee Pearlman, of the editorial and curatorial design consultancy Chee Company, says "Speed of Light looks at an extraordinary life-force from a broad spectrum of disciplines. From the macro story of the physics of light as it exists in the universe, to the emotional resonance of light as a storytelling medium, to the inventions of maverick designers, this conference will explore the possibilities and poetics of visible photons in our lives today."
"As the first school in the nation with an MFA program in architectural lighting design, it is important that our educational efforts remain on the cutting edge," said Parsons Dean Tim Marshall. "Partnering with the Museum of Arts & Design to present Speed of Light not only gives our students insight into new technologies that will greatly influence their careers, but also benefits design professionals and the public."
Dr. Michio Kaku, renowned professor of theoretical physics, will deliver the keynote speech, "What is Light" on Saturday, October 28. Additional presentations include:
- "Telling Stories with Light," a conversation with Broadway lighting designer and producer Jules Fisher and environmental architect and designer David Rockwell;
- "Light: The Magic Design Material," with lighting designer Ingo Maurer in conversation with design impresario Murray Moss;
- A tour and demonstration of the newest technologies and materials dealing with light from laboratories, universities and manufacturers.
Other conference presenters (list in progress) will include:
- David Gallo, director of special projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution;
- Louise Lippincott, chief curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA;
- Chee Pearlman, director of Chee Company, an editorial and curatorial design company, and former editor-in-chief of I.D. magazine;
- Stephen Petranek, Discover magazine editor-at-large;
- Derek Porter, director of the MFA Lighting Program at Parsons The New School for Design;
The Museum will publish a white paper report on the conference.
Schedule of Events
Friday, October 27:
6:00 to 8:00 p.m.[/b] Opening cocktail reception at the Museum of Arts & Design with curator-led tours of the exhibition simply droog: 10+3 years of creating innovation and discussion, which explores the work of the ground-breaking Dutch design collective.
Saturday, October 28:
8:30 a.m. Check-in and breakfast, Tishman Auditorium, The New School.
9:30 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. Speaker presentations, with coffee and lunch to be served.
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Closing cocktail reception, Wollman Hall, The New School.
Fees and Registration
Individual $100; Museum of Arts & Design member $80; student: $65; Parsons/New School student w/ID $25. For details on registration, please visit the Museum's website: http://www.madmuseum.org or call 212-956-3535, ext. 125.
Conference Organization and Sponsorship
Speed of Light is organized by the Museum of Arts & Design with guest program director Chee Pearlman in collaboration with Parsons The New School for Design.
Museum of Arts & Design (MAD)
The Museum of Arts & Design is the country's leading cultural institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects created in a wide range of media, including clay, glass, wood, metal, and fiber. The Museum celebrates materials and processes that are embraced by practitioners in the fields of craft, decorative arts, and design. MAD's distinguished permanent collection includes more than 2,000 objects by renowned artists and designers from around the world, representing many forms of creative expression and technical mastery. The Museum will move to a new 54,000 square-foot building at Two Columbus Circle in Manhattan in 2008. In its new home, designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture in association with Handel Architects, the Museum will be able to display works from its permanent collection in dedicated collection galleries for the first time in its history.
Museum of Arts & Design (MAD): http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7893/
Parsons The New School for Design
Located in the heart of New York City, Parsons The New School for Design is one of the most prestigious and comprehensive degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation, with approximately 3,500 students in degree programs from all 50 states and approximately 60 countries. Parsons has been a forerunner in the field of art and design since its founding in 1896. By locating visual beauty in the ordinary things of middle-class American life, Parsons virtually invented the modern concept of design in America. Parsons Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting Department offers several programs in design studies, including the first MFA program in the field of architectural lighting design, which combines strong technical and design training with a rigorous study of the phenomenology, history, and evolving theories of light in regard to social practice.
For more information, visit http://www.parsons.newschool.edu
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