Conference Dates: Friday 8 and Saturday 9 May 2015, 10am – 6.15pm both days
Conference Venue: ArtScience Museum, 6 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018974
Conference Summary
In May 2015, ArtScience Museum will host a conference exploring the legacy of history's most celebrated artist and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Most studies of da Vinci focus on a specific area of his activity - art, anatomy, technology, studies on water, on flight, and so on. This conference will offer a different point of view, encouraging an exploration of da Vinci's way of thinking and of the cultural landscape, which nurtured him. It will analyse how his interdisciplinary approach, which we now refer to as “systems thinking” and "complexity", remains strikingly resonant for us today, and applied within the fields of art, science, technology, education and foresight.
The conference begins with a special edition of ArtScience Museum's monthly performance programme, ArtScience Late (Thursday 7 May), and continues for two full days of discussions on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 May, featuring presentations from within Singapore and around the world, from a range of leading speakers in the fields of history, art, science & technology, education, and futures thinking. It includes keynotes from major names in art history such as Professor Paolo Galluzzi (Italy), as well as dynamic contemporary artists, innovative scientists and technologists, and influential cultural commentators.
This conference has been co-convened by Honor Harger and Anna Salaman (ArtScience Museum), and Andrea Nanetti (Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design and Media).
- Speakers and Chairs
Thursday 7 May 2015, 7pm – 10pm
ArtScience Late will feature a special performance from, our international ArtScience resident, Maurizio Martinucci (TeZ). The show is free, and there will be performances at 8pm and 9pm.
For more, see event details.
Friday 8 May 2015, 10am – 6.15pm
The first full day of the conference presents Leonardo da Vinci and the approach that he took to all of his lines of enquiries. It analyses how da Vinci not only understood the essence of ‘systems thinking’, but how he also applied this to his inventions, ideas and work generally. We ask, was this approach extraordinary for its time? Was da Vinci different from his renowned contemporaries in this way? To address these questions, the key note speaker, Professor Paulo Galluzzi will present an overview of da Vinci’s life, influences, influencers and projects in this context, and Don Alberto Rocca will provide the cultural context of da Vinci’s time and place. We will explore if there was something within the context of da Vinci’s time which encouraged his thinking and ‘systems’ awareness, or was this a one-off – a spike in the linear progression of epistemology? We ask if there are there other examples of interdisciplinary thinking and approaches throughout history. The day will continue with a reflection on the more recent times and the advent of new media – a marriage of two seemingly quite separate, established disciplines: art and technology, moving the dialogue into the 20th century, and beyond.
Timetable and Speakers
| 10:00am: |
Registration |
| 10:15am: |
Welcome remarks by Conference Chairs Honor Harger and Andrea Nanetti |
| 10:30am: | Session 1: Keynote on Leonardo da Vinci’s approach to systems thinking |
| Chair: | Don Alberto Rocca, Director of Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Italy |
| Speaker: | Professor Paolo Galluzzi, Director, Institute and Museum of History of Science, Florence, Italy, Chair of the Advisory Boards of the National Edition of Leonardo da Vinci’s Manuscripts and Drawings |
| 11:30am: | Conversation and Q&A between Don Rocca and Professor Galluzzi on the educational and cultural context in the time of Leonardo |
12pm: |
Lunch break |
| 1pm: | Session 2: Historical applications of systems thinking |
| Chair: | David Harvey, Senior Vice-President of Exhibitions, American Museum of Natural History, USA |
Speakers:
|
Gunalan Nadarajan, Dean of Stamps School of Art and Design, University of Michigan Gregory Clancey, Associate Professor, Department of History, National University of Singapore, Singapore Margaret Tan, Lecturer, National University of Singapore, Singapore |
2:30pm: |
Tea break |
| 3pm: | Session 3: Systems thinking in art |
| Chair: | Vibeke Sorensen, Chair, NTU School of Art, Design and Media, Singapore |
Speakers:
|
Luciano Chessa, Composer, performer, musicologist, USA Ruben de la Nuez, Lecturer at School of Art, Design and Media, NTU, Singapore Isabelle Desjeux, Artist and scientist, Singapore |
5pm: |
Closing remarks by Honor Harger and Andrea Nanetti |
| 5:15pm: | Optional Tour of Da Vinci: Shaping the Future |
| 6:15pm: | End of proceedings |
Saturday 9 May 2015, 10am – 6.15pm
The whistle-stop tour through key ‘systems thinkers’ in history from the previous day continues with a day exploring contemporary ‘systems approaches’, specifically addressing the areas. It will cover how science and technology environments might nurture the "Leonardos" of tomorrow and stimulate interdisciplinary working, and look at innovative education and pedagogical methodologies today which will encourage the same.
Fittingly, the last session looks to the future. Curated by Forum for the Future, it addresses how complex problems of this time may be solved using multidisciplinary and the ‘systems’, or ‘complexity theory’ approaches. A sub-theme will explore addressing challenges at scale.
Timetable and Speakers
| 10:00am: |
Registration |
| 10:30am: | Session 4: Systems thinking in science and technology |
| Chair: | Honor Harger, Executive Director, ArtScience Museum. This session explores systems thinking within a science and technology context. It will cover how science and technology environments might nurture the "Leonardos" of tomorrow. The speakers will discuss how different science and technology environments, from more traditional environments, such as science labs, educational science centres, to informal technology environments such as makerspaces, and co-working spaces, might stimulate interdisciplinary working. |
Speakers:
|
Peng Kian Tan, Centre for Quantum Technologies, NUS, Singapore Ei-Leen Tan, Science Centre Singapore, and Maker Faire Singapore Veerappan Swaminathan, One Maker Group and the Sustainable Living Lab, Singapore Grace Sai, CEO and Co-Founder, The Hub, Singapore |
12:30pm: |
Lunch break and optional tour of Da Vinci: Shaping the Future |
| 1:30pm | Session 5: Systems thinking in Education |
| Chair: | Kenneth Kwok, Director (Arts & Youth and Strategic Planning), National Arts Council, Singapore |
| Speakers: | Venka Purushothaman, Academic, arts and cultural manager, and writer and Vice President and Provost of LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore Tong Yee, founder of The Thought Collective and the School of Thought, Singapore Noorlinah Mohamed, Independent consultant, Singapore |
| 3:30pm: |
Tea break |
| 4pm: | Session 6: Systems thinking in Foresight and Futures |
| Chair: | Cheryl Chung, Lead Strategist, Futures Division at Ministry of Transport, Singapore |
Speakers:
|
Dr. Alistair Douglas, SmartAqua Pte Ltd, Singapore Yin Shanyang, Swarm design studio, Singapore Zhen Goh, Senior Consultant, Cognitive Edge, Singapore Justin Pickard, Anthropologist of technology and innovation, UK |
6pm: |
Closing remarks by Honor Harger and Andrea Nanetti |
| 6:15pm: | End of proceedings |