Organized by
Center for Contemporary Art, CCA Kitakyushu in collaboration with Storefront for Art and Architecture

Curated by
Akiko Miyake / CCA Kitakyushu
Joseph Grima / Storefront

Participants
Ruben Coen Cagli / Neuroscience
Trisha Donnelly / Visual Art
Didier Fiuza Faustino / Architecture
Joan Jonas / Visual Art
Lisa Kaltenegger/ Astrophysics
Kazuo Okanoya / Cognitive Science
Damon Rich / Urban Design
Anri Sala / Visual Art
Kevin Slavin / Information Science

BRIDGE THE GAP? aims to create an ongoing forum between artists, scientists, designers and thinkers of the humanities in which ideas are exchanged and reciprocal stimulation and influence can occur. The first BTG?, held in 2001 in Kitakyushu (Japan) brought together 30 specialists from the arts, sciences and humanities (www.btgjapan.org); the second in took place in Milan, the third in Chiang Mai, the fourth in Kitakyushu/Shanghai and the fifth in Venice. Each event involved a profound change in scale and context of the BTG? format.

By making the coffee break a central forum and by enhancing the exchange between participants, BTG? poses the question concerning the necessity of actual and virtual salons now. BTG? proposes a non-linear, non-hierarchical approach to knowledge production – to go beyond the boundaries of disciplines and to overcome the fears of pooling knowledge. Classical conferences emphasized order and stability. In contrast, we now see fluctuations instability: the unpredictable. In non-equilibrium physics, you find various notions of unstable systems and the dynamics of unstable environments. Instead of certitudes, BTG? expresses connective possibilities.

The field of reflection and discussion coming from the different perspective will begin to broaden, deepen and create the ground to work in collaboration.

December 11 Schedule:
11:00 – 11:40 Damon Rich
11:40 – 12:20 Anri Sala
12:20 – 13:00 Lisa Kalgenegger

15:00 – 15:40 Trisha Donnely
15:40 – 16:20 Ruben Coen Cagli

16:40 – 17:20 Kazuo Okanoya
17:20 – 18:00 Joan Jonas

18:30 – 19:10 Didier Faustino
19:10 – 19:50 Kevin Slavin

Participant Bios

Ruben Coen Cagli
is Postdoctoral Research Associate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. He studies the visual creativity from the vantage point of computational Cognitive Science, and currently focuses on computational models of natural image statistics, visual cortical processing, and texture synthesis.

Trisha Donnelly
presents her work in various ways such as installation and performance, using diverse mediums including video, drawing, photography and sound. Sometimes accompanied by her personal experience, her work blurs concept of time and space within the framework of art exhibition.

Didier Fiuza Faustino
realizes many architecture projects, while he also presents his work often in art exhibition context. His architectural and artistic projects are above all focused on the issue of space as a political, social and bodily experience. He conceives architecture as a “tool for exacerbating our senses and sharpening our awareness of reality”.

Joan Jonas
is a pioneer of video/performance art. She started her career in 60s and led the new art movement happening around that time. Her influence plays a crucial role in the development of art even until the present day. Currently she continues to explore her performance work with new media, and also presents installation work.

Lisa Kaltenegger
is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian, Center for Astrophysics. She studies extrasolar planets, especially focusing on the Earth-like planets, and the photons where we could trace life on the planet. Now she works on the discovery of the photon of the planets, and also involves with the design of the space telescopes for it.

Kazuo Okanoya
is Head of Laboratory for Biolinguistics of Riken Brain Science Institute. Through study on bird’s hearing/song, and vocal token of naked mole-rats and degus which are belong to rodent species, Okanoya investigates mechanism of human brain and language.

Damon Rich
uses video, sculpture, graphics, and photography to investigate the political economy of the built environment. In 1997 he founded the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York City nonprofit organization that uses the power of design and art to improve the quality of public participation in urban planning and community design, where he was the creative director for 10 years.

Anri Sala
is known for his video work, which is sometimes entwined seemingly with political, biographical contexts. The images often feature physical and linguistic details that look trivial but have peculiarities. He also presents his work in the styles of installation and performance.

Kevin Slavin
is the Managing Director and co-founder of Area/Code, a company engaged in building on the landscape of pervasive technologies and overlapping media to create new kinds of entertainment. Founded in 2005. Area/Code creates cross-media games and entertainment for clients including Nokia, CBS, Disney Imagineering, MTV, Discovery Networks, A&E Networks, Nike, Puma, EA, the UK’s Department for Transport, and Busch Entertainment.