[Leonardo/ISAST Network] Frozen Light :: Artist Liliane Lijn at University College London, UK

[Leonardo/ISAST]

Frozen Light :: Artist Liliane Lijn in conversation with UCL Professor Brian Butterworth and Dr Andrew Westphal
Thursday, May 15, 2008, 18:00--19:00 
University College London
Gower Street
Pearson Building, Room B.23
London WC1E 6BT UK
(Details how to get there at the bottom of the page)
(A video-conference will also take place at UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA)

As the result of an ACE, NASA, Leonardo Fellowship, artist Liliane Lijn has in the last two years been able to work with Aerogel, the fragile and ethereal material used by the NASA Stardust Project to capture both coma and interstellar dust. She describes her recent work as a metaphorical dialogue with Stardust Project Director Andrew Westphal and his quest in search of 'cosmic fossils'.
Abstract

Liliane Lijn's work as an artist is primarily concerned with light in its relation to matter. The physicist David Bohm, (1917-1992) described matter as 'frozen or condensed light' and saw the world of matter and the experience of consciousness as complementary aspects of a more fundamental process he called the implicate order . Lijn believes that as an artist, she explores the outside world with one eye and the inner with another, world and self, matter and consciousness. Her work is both mathematical in its use of geometric forms while simultaneously involving archetypes and a continuing obsession with time and memory.

Dr Andrew Westphal is a physicist and Asstistant Director of the Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley. He is the Director of the Stardust at homeProject that has captured and brought to Earth the very first contemporary interstellar dust grains for study. He has been quoted as saying: "Stardust is not only the first mission to return samples from a comet, it is the first sample return mission from the galaxy. The fundamental point is that we ultimately are made of this stuff -- 'stardust' from the interstellar medium."

Professor Butterworth, who has known both Lijn and her work for at least 20 years, will be asking Lijn to explain how she has woven the threads of
Light, Memory and Matter into the fabric of her oeuvre. Brian Butterworth, author of The Mathematical Brain, is Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at University College London and founding editor of the academic journal Mathematical Cognition. He is currently working with colleagues on the neuropsychology and the genetics of mathematical ability. Liliane Lijn was born in New York City, studied Art History and Archeology in Paris and lives in London. Her work has been exhibited internationally since the 1960's and is represented in numerous important collections, including MOMA, Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum.

Getting to University College London

The nearest Tube stations are Euston Square and Warren Street. For full details, see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/location/public-transport

How to find Pearson Building, Room B.23:

Once you enter the UCL main gate (Gower Street), the Pearson Building is the first on your left hand side. The entrance is at the end of the building. There will be signs from the entrance that will help you to find the exact location easily.

You may also consult the UCL maps at:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/location/maps

Entrance is free, but seating in the videoconference suite is limited, and places must be booked. If you would like to attend, please email Gordana Novakovic (G.Novakovic at cs.ucl.ac.uk) as soon as possible. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. If you do mot manage to get a place, please note that a video recording of the event will be made available soon afterwards via the Tesla website at http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/research/tesla/
Liliane Lijn's residency was made possible, in part through the assistance of Leonardo/ISAST. For more information about the Leonardo Space Art Working Group, visit: http://leonardo.info/spaceart/space.html

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