Lance Gharavi Colloquium Abstract (Mar 22, 2017)

Science, Art, Narrative

The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the School of Earth and Space Exploration are located on opposite sides of ASU’s Tempe campus. This spatial arrangement is a key part of a larger, though rarely discussed, plan. The “Architects” of the University fear the dangers that might result from the mixing, or even close proximity, of such opposing disciplines.

The previous paragraph is probably false. How would we prove that?

In what sense might it be true?

Is the relationship between science art like Stephen Jay Gould’s description of science and religion? Are they non-overlapping magisteria? How many magisteria are we allowed to have? How many before they start to inevitably overlap?

In this presentation, artist and performance scholar Lance Gharavi discusses his work at the intersections of art and science. There will be black holes and robots and volcanoes and gorillas. In the Venn diagram of art and science he will locate narrative and truth, but he will not use permanent markers.

The stakes may be higher than we think.