Dear members of spectre,<br><br>Please let me introduce myself. My name is Nina Samuel and I am
Visiting Assistant Professor at the Bard Graduate Center in New York
City. I am an art historian originally from Berlin working on the
intersection of the arts and sciences since many years.<br> <br> I would
like to get in touch because I curated an unusual exhibition on
scientific images that is opening on Thursday, September 20, 6-8p, in the Focus Gallery
of the Bard Graduate Center in NYC, and I hope that this could be
interesting for you. <br><br>The exhibition "The Islands of
Benoît Mandelbrot: Chaos, Fractals, and the Materiality of Thinking"
shows never exhibited images, objects and films of the office of
mathematician Benoît
Mandelbrot that I was allowed to visit last Fall - left exactly in the
state it was after his demise. It
also includes material of other historic protagonists working in the
field of chaos theory and complex dynamics (Lorenz, Rössler, Douady).
These materials reveal aspects of visual thinking that had not been
discussed for this field before (e.g. the astonishing importance of hand
drawing to understand computer images). It brings a wholly new answer
to the question of how images work as
thinking tool in that field that became so known in the 1980s and 90s. <br><br>The exhibition does not focus on the "pretty pictures" that had become so famous in this field but is interested in the interaction of the visual and the thinking process - as well as in the "visual waste" or the "experimental detritus" that is produced during this process. It is generally based on the assumption that the form and design of scientific images are no less important than the facts and objects they visualize, and that the transformations associated with imaging are an integral part of the aquisition of knowledge.<br>
<br>
I also edited an extensively illustrated catalogue that is published with Yale University
Press in conjunction with the exhibition. If you are interested to publish a review, we will
be happy to send you the catalogue. Please get in touch and just send me your mailing address (to <a style="text-decoration:none;color:#78787d" href="mailto:samuel@bgc.bard.edu" target="_blank">samuel@bgc.bard.edu</a>, please also mention what kind of media you would like to publish the review in).<br>
<br>If you are in NYC, please join us for the opening on
Thursday, September 20, from 6-8 pm. The Bard Graduate Center Gallery is
located in New York City at 18 West 86th Street, between Central Park
West and Columbus Avenue.
The show will be on view from September 21, 2012 – January 27, 2013.<br> <br> I hope that this subject raises your interest
and I would be very happy if you could consider to publish an article
about the exhibition and / or the catalogue, or to distribute the info
on your website, or to forward it people that you know that could be interested in
the subject.<br> <br>
Thank you and have a wonderful day.<br><br>All best,<br> Nina<br><br> <br> This is the link:<br> <a href="http://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/gallery-at-bgc/focus-gallery-4.html" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/gallery-at-bgc/focus-gallery-4.html</a><br>
<br><br><b>Exhibition and publication: The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot:<br>
Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking</b><br>
<br>
The Bard Graduate Center Gallery, New York City, 18 West 86th Street<br>
<br>
On view September 21, 2012 – January 27, 2013<br>
<br>
Exhibition Explores the Role of Images in Scientific Thinking<br><br>
Featuring never before exhibited works on paper and objects including<br>
dynamic black and white drawings, computer print-outs, photographs,<br>
and computer-generated films <br><br>Focusing primarily on the work of one of the most notable mathematicians of the twentieth century, <br>"The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking"<br>
explores the role of images in the development of what has become<br>
known as fractal geometry and chaos theory. Nina Samuel, visiting<br>
professor from Das Technisches Bild in Berlin, is the curator of this<br>
exhibition, which will be on view at the Bard Graduate Center from<br>
September 21, 2012 to January 27, 2013.<br>
<br>
For thousands of years, Western thought assumed that fundamental<br>
geometry consisted of regular, ideal forms, such as cubes, spheres,<br>
and cones, with straight or evenly curved faces and edges. Benoît<br>
Mandelbrot (1924–2010), however, explored mathematics as he saw it— in<br>
all its untidiness and irregularity, devoting himself to the study,<br>
for example, of the forms of the coastlines of real islands, with all<br>
their unpredictable inlets, creeks, and furrows. Mandelbrot, in other<br>
words, looked at the world. In so doing, he flouted what was in effect<br>
a prohibition pervading much of mathematical thinking against the use<br>
of visual representation. To reintroduce the visual, Mandelbrot took<br>
the groundbreaking step of harnessing the potential of computers,<br>
thereby transforming mathematics into an experimental science. The<br>
result was his invention of fractal geometry, a geometry of actuality<br>
rather than of abstraction, as exemplified in his classic work, The<br>
Fractal Geometry of Nature (1982).<br>
<br>
The notion of islands is central to Mandelbrot’s work, associated in<br>
his thinking with both the inspiring and the seductive role of images.<br>
They challenge his own dictum that “seeing is believing” and point to<br>
the interaction between the hand and computer visualizations to<br>
generate new ideas. Frequently, the computer alone is unable to give<br>
an insight, and hand drawing becomes necessary for transforming a<br>
confusing computer image into a new idea or theory.<br>
<br>
At his death in 2010, Mandelbrot left a mass of idiosyncratically<br>
organized drawings, computer print-outs, films, manuscript scribbles,<br>
objects, and polaroids in his office in Cambridge, Massachusetts— an<br>
extraordinary trove to which Mandelbrot’s wife, Aliette, generously<br>
allowed Professor Samuel access. “To explore it was like wandering<br>
through the mathematician’s brain,” said Samuel. “It was like<br>
witnessing the ephemeral traces of his very thought processes.”<br>
Selections from these materials form the core of the exhibition.<br>
<br>
Along with this rare look into Mandelbrot’s working process, sketches<br>
from his contemporaries — the French mathematician Adrien Douady and<br>
the German biochemist Otto E. Rössler — will also be publicly<br>
exhibited for the first time. The work of the Massachusetts Institute<br>
of Technology meteorologist Edward N. Lorenz, a pioneer of chaos<br>
theory, will be represented by loans from the Library of Congress.<br>
The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality<br>
of Thinking allows the viewer to question the idea that the<br>
illustration of a work must always be secondary to the work itself. On<br>
the contrary, substantive images often play generative roles in the<br>
scientific process, constituting a kind of material thinking conducted<br>
by producing and interpreting visual traces, such as<br>
computer-generated images. These images are often aesthetically<br>
compelling even if they are initially scientifically impenetrable.<br>
This constitutes another revelation of the exhibition: the beauty of<br>
material thinking that can be found in the visual detritus of<br>
scientific investigation.<br>
<br>
The Bard Graduate Center Gallery is located in New York City at 18<br>
West 86th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.<br>
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and<br>
Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The admission fee is $7 general, $5<br>
senior and students (valid ID); admission is free Thursday evenings<br>
after 5 p.m. For more information about the Bard Graduate Center and<br>
upcoming exhibitions, please visit <a href="http://bgc.bard.edu" target="_blank">bgc.bard.edu</a>.<br><br><br><br clear="all">Nina Samuel<br>
<span style="color:#6fa68d">Visiting Assistant Professor</span><br><br>
Bard Graduate Center:<br>
Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture<br>
38 West 86th Street, New York, NY 10024<br>
<span style="color:#6fa68d">E</span><a style="text-decoration:none;color:#78787d" href="mailto:samuel@bgc.bard.edu" target="_blank"> samuel@bgc.bard.edu</a><br>
<span style="color:#6fa68d">W</span><a style="text-decoration:none;color:#78787d" href="http://www.bgc.bard.edu" target="_blank"> bgc.bard.edu</a><br>
<span style="color:#6fa68d">W</span> <a style="text-decoration:none;color:#78787d" href="http://www.bgc.bard.edu/programs.html" target="_blank"> bgc.bard.edu/degree-programs</a><br><br>
BGC Exhibitions:<br>
<span style="color:#6fa68d">W</span><a style="text-decoration:none;color:#78787d" href="http://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/gallery-at-bgc.html" target="_blank"> bgc.bard.edu/gallery</a>