IARTA lecture

I went to the lecture on Thursday night and Friday morning in the music building. David Dunn and Paul Demannis were the speakers. David Dunn is an artist/scientist how has done extensive research recording small insects such as the bark beetle in their natural habitats. He believes that they communicate with each other in a much more complex way than people have perceived and he makes it a point to listen to the environment in ways that no one ever has before. Because of this, a lot of his discoveries are really quite groundbreaking.

Paul Demannis is an artist and musician who teaches at Stanford University. His artworks are incredibly interesting and beautiful. He is interested mainly in communication technology and how they actually separate people from each other. A piece of his that I found really cool is called the Pygmy Gamelan '73. It is some electronic conductor that picks up wavelengths from surrounding signals to create beautiful tones. He tried to sell it as an alternative to car radio and it became a sound art installation piece. He also has managed to do things like play holograms of records with lasers.

Seeing these artists/scientists/musicians just made me want to learn more about everything that i'm not currently studying.