A panel discussion will feature three artists discussing their artwork focused on science in “METAMORPHS: Artists Spin Science” on Apr. 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Hyde Hall. It will be free and open to the public. Artist and UNC professor elin o’Hara slavick will moderate the event.
The discussion will focus on the works of artists Brandon Ballengée, Jane D. Marsching and Marina Zurkow. The respondents with ties to the College of Arts and Sciences include Amy White, artist and art writer pursuing a master of arts in art history at UNC, and Barry Saunders, physician and anthropologist and adjunct associate professor in religious studies, communication studies and anthropology.
Other respondents include Courtney Fitzpatrick, a field biologist, Duke University; Duncan Murrell, contributing editor to Harper’s Magazine and writer in residence, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University; and David Richardson, epidemiologist, UNC.
“Metamorphs: Artists Spin Science brings together internationally acclaimed artists and UNC/Duke professors, writers in residence and graduate students to discuss the intersections of visual art and science, specifically how artists utilize and respond to science in their own practice — from climate change and environmental degradation to discoveries and catastrophes,” said slavick.
Ballengée will discuss “Praeter Naturam: Beyond Nature.” He is known for creating trans-disciplinary artworks inspired from his ecological field investigations and laboratory research. In 2009, Ballengée co-wrote a scientific investigation for the Journal of Experimental Zoology, and it was the inspiration for works in a recent solo exhibition at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London.
Marsching will discuss “The Field Research Impulse.” Marsching explores the past, present and future human impact on the environment through interdisciplinary and collaborative practices, including video installations, virtual landscapes, dynamic web sites and data visualizations. Her current work mines Thoreau’s many observations of seasonal plant and animal life at Walden Pond to consider the impact of climate shifts on this landscape at the heart of the American imagination of all that is nature.
Zurkow will talk about “Agency, Intimacy & Ambience.” Zurkow makes media works about humans and their relationships to animals, plants and the weather. By turns humorous and contemplative, these take the form of animation, drawings and print graphics and participatory temporary public art works. Since 2000, Zurkow has exhibited at The Sundance Film Festival, The Rotterdam Film Festival, The Seoul Media City Biennial, Ars Electronica and other venues. She is also a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.
This event is funded by the Office of the Dean’s Interdisciplinary Initiatives Grant, with support from the Institute of Arts and Humanities, and the art department at UNC-Chapel Hill.
For more information, please contact slavick at (919)-923-4550 or eoslavic@gmail.com
