Secrets of Creation
6-21 March 2010
This event will bring artist Conrad Shawcross, whose work presents interrogations of scientific and philosophical concepts, and mathematician Dr Matthew Watkins, curator of the Number Theory and Physics Archive and Research Fellow in Mathematics at Exeter University, to Urbanomic Studio for a week-long collaborative residency.
Inspired by the contributions by Watkins and Shawcross to the Urbanomic journal Collapse, the residency (6-13 March) will see them pursuing innovative interdisciplinary research, the results of which will be presented in an exhibition, and through a one-day symposium (13 March) and a public lecture whose audience will meet the residents to discuss and debate ideas at the interface of art, science and philosophy.
The residency at Urbanomic Studio will focus on the question: How can artists and artworks stage a 'dramatisation' of abstract concepts that allows them to be grasped by non-experts? This question, which is the subject of Watkins' current book project Secrets of Creation, will be addressed through the conception of a new work by Shawcross that makes accessible to a non-expert audience Watkins' research on prime numbers and their relation to physics. Shawcross and Watkins will spend the week in discussion, producing concepts, sketches and maquettes for a kinetic sculptural work.
From 15-21 March, Urbanomic Studio will host an exhibition open to the public. The exhibition will open with a one-day symposium open to the public and comprising: A presentation by Watkins on his book Secrets of Creation; A presentation by Shawcross of his recent work; A discussion chaired by Robin Mackay on the importance of visualising and explaining mathematical theory; A presentation and open discussion of the work produced during the residency. Newlyn Art Gallery will also host a public lecture in which Shawcross will present his recent work and discuss the process and outcomes of the Urbanomic residency.
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