Nothing on Earth is as simultaneously unifying and dividing as water – the seven billion people currently occupying the planet rely on exactly the same 1% of freshwater as every previous generation, and that number is expected to grow by an additional one billion in the next 20 years.
Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin's newest exhibition, SURFACE TENSION: THE FUTURE OF WATER, opens at the 2012 World Science Festival in New York City on May 30th. The striking exhibit investigates water as a precious resource with a dynamic, interactive, and provocative series of works by more than 50 artists, designers, engineers, and scientists whose work lies firmly at the crossroads of art and science.
The follow-up to Science Gallery's "eye-popping" (WIRED) 2011 US exhibition BIORHYTHM: Music and the Body, SURFACE TENSION explores water's physical properties, its role in politics and economics, and innovative ways in which it may be harnessed, cleaned, and distributed. Among the highlights are:
- PROTEI 002 by Protei – An open-source prototype for a robotic sailing ship that could clean up future oil spills
- TELEPRESENT WATER by David Bowen – A mechanical grid whose motion is stimulated by the movement of waves from a distant, unknown location
- BIT.FALL by Julius Popp – An electronically controlled waterfall made up of words generated by the current stream of news on the internet
- EVENT HORIZON by Petroc Sesti – A giant bell jar in which a perpetual whirlpool spirals, suspended in perpetual motion
- HYDROCORDIAN by Di Mainstone – A playful musical device that enlists "squeezicians" to create music through digitized harmonies, sloshing, and water-drips
- HYDROGENY by Evelina Domnitch & Dmitri Gelfand – A laser-illuminated water chamber filled with nanobubbles of natures simplest atom – hydrogen
- THE SWIMMER by Fergal McCarthy – A film by Nicky Gogan re-enacting the cross-county swim of a 1968 classic film across Dublin’s aquatic landscape.
WHAT: SURFACE TENSION: The Future of Water
WHERE: Eyebeam Art + Technology Center, 540 West 21st Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues), New York, NY 10011
WHEN: May 30-August 11, 2012, Tues-Sat 12-6pm
Speaking before the arrival of SURFACE TENSION to New York, Founding Director of Science Gallery, Michael John Gorman said “Water is both disposable and sacred, a muse for artists and a necessity for life. Surface Tension is overflowing with ideas on the future of this vital resource, and we’re looking forward to inviting further perspectives from visitors to the exhibition in New York this summer”.
Since opening its doors in Dublin in 2008, Science Gallery has welcomed nearly one million visitors to 22 exhibitions to engage audiences in the convergence of art and science. Thanks to a prestigious gift of €1 million ($1.3 million) gift from Google.org – Google's philanthropic arm – Science Gallery has announced plans to establish a Global Science Gallery Network, and is in talks with potential partners in New York, London, Moscow, and Singapore, among others. This international expansion plan will see Science Gallery launch seven additional centers worldwide before 2020. In June 2012, Science Gallery will also launch flagship show HACK THE CITY: Take Control at Science Gallery in Dublin and BIORHYTHM: Music and the Body at Singapore Science Centre.
http://www.sciencegallery.com/ http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9E6F2CDEA1AB6894 http://shorefire.com/clients/sciencegallery/ About SURFACE TENSION
The World Science Festival, in association with Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, presents SURFACE TENSION: THE FUTURE OF WATER at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center. The exhibition was created by Science Gallery and is made possible through the generous support of Culture Ireland and the Cordover Family Foundation. SURFACE TENSION is curated by Ralph Borland, Michael John Gorman, Bruce Misstear and Jane Withers.
About Science Gallery
Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin is a world first, a space that ignites creativity and discovery where science and art collide. Since 2008, Science Gallery has engaged an audience of 15-25 year olds through a cutting-edge program of 22 exhibitions and ‘lab in the gallery’ shows that have ranged in theme from contagion to food, and light to love. Featuring artworks, events, real research experiments and discussions, these programs are designed bring artists, scientists, designers and engineers into creative and critical dialogue. This dynamic new model for public engagement with science, technology and innovation has earned Science Gallery and its Founding Director, lecturer, and professor Michael John Gorman significant international profile. In 2012, Science Gallery will welcome its one-millionth visitor in Dublin and embark on a journey to establish seven more hubs that will form the basis for a Global Science Gallery Network. Science Gallery is an initiative of Ireland’s leading research university, Trinity College Dublin and is kindly supported by the Wellcome Trust as founding partner and Science Circle supporters DELL, Google, ICON, NTR Foundation and Paccar. Science Gallery receives government support from the Irish Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht and Science Foundation Ireland.
About the World Science Festival
The World Science Festival is a production of the Science Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. The Foundation's mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future. The World Science Festival has been made possible with the generous support of its Founding Benefactors: the Simons Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation. The World Science Festival gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its major sponsors, Ann Ziff, Con Edison and The Kavli Prize; its media partners, ABC News, ABC Radio, WABC-TV, Mental Floss, Popular Science, Time Warner Cable, The Week, WNYC Radio; and its university partners, New York University, The City University of New York, Columbia University, The Rockefeller University, The New School, and The Cooper Union.
The 5th Annual World Science Festival takes place May 30th to June 3rd.
