SAiA is pleased to announce the inaugural exhibition of the SciArt Center: Un-Natural Nature. The SciArt Center provides support and promotes cross-disciplinary approaches and interactions, and what better way to bring SciArt to the people than to host a virtual exhibition online? 

Un-Natural Nature will begin as a virtual exhibition on SciArtCenter.org and will feature:

• 1-5 images of each artist’s work 
  
• 1 paragraph artist statement
  
• Link to Resume/CV
  
• Links to social media pages and websites

A feature article written by curator Danielle Kalamaras will be published in the October issue of SciArt in America. Artists will also be featured in articles published on the SciArt in America blog. An opening party celebrating the exhibition and the artists will be held September 18 at Eastwood in the Lower East Side. Images of chosen artworks will be projected onto a large screen during the opening. The exhibition will become a gallery exhibition or pop-up show in the near future.

About Un-Natural Nature
Nature today is a push and pull between preservation and expansion. As urban sprawl continues to domineer, the organic world is transitioning from a natural occurrence to a corralled phenomenon. The man-made world reorients our perception and nature is becoming less organic, and more mediated. As nature gives way to the man-made jungle, how does this affect our reflection of the Sublime? Un-Natural Nature will explore the ever-changing landscapes of a 21st century world.  

Un-Natural Nature is a philosophical theme that should be considered on an individual level by the artist. The theme’s intent is to inspire productivity rather than create barriers. The SciArt Center encourages new artwork to be submitted. All works of art in all media will be eligible. Works in progress are also all eligible for the virtual exhibition. 
All works of art in all media will be eligible and it is free to submit. Visit SciArt Center online for the entry form and rules to apply. All entries must be received by September 5.

Great things are happening at the SciArt Center. The center officially transitioned into a virtual community and is creating events all over NYC to bring SciArt to the people. If you are looking to add some artful explorations to your upcoming calendar, skip the happy hour for an event a bit more experimental. Here are a few upcoming events:

8/12: Monthly SciArt Mixer co-hosted with ArtLabSpeed Meeting Theme: Science + Art Under the Stars
7:30pm at Pacific Standard
This monthly mixer's theme will be held in a speed-meeting format with the theme of astronomy. If you are a scientist working in the field or artist interested in the stars & cosmos, and want to officially participate in the speed meetings to meet potential collaborators across disciplines. 
Email Maryam of ArtLab to participate: maryam.zaringhalam@thisisartlab.com 

9/13: SciArt in Soho - Art Walk
Through the decades, the relationship between science and art developed as the two disciplines shifted with the changing times. SciArt in SoHo is a curated art tour that chronicles the symbiotic relationships between art and science through the ages. The tour begins with Environmental Art of the 1970s and concludes with contemporary digital new media. Notable stops include the Dia Art Foundation, SoHo Arthouse, Whitebox and Eleven Rivington. RSVP to this artful afternoon outing by emailing events@sciartcenter.org for your free virtual tour guide, which includes detailed information about all galleries and artists included in the tour.

1:45 Coffee Meet & Greet at Ground Support
2:00-4:00 Art Walking Tour
4:30 Drinks and Reception at One Mile House 

Please RSVP to events@sciartcenter.org Subject: "SciArt in SoHo" by September 8th for your free virtual guide.

SciArt Center is always adding events to its calendar, so check the events page weekly for opportunities to meet and collaborate with SciArt enthusiasts.

In an age of grave warnings about environmental deterioration, it is no coincidence that many artists are advocating for a more sustainable future. As I have previously discussed in “The Arts Industry and Eco-Consciousness,” there is often a gap between the artistic expression of ecology, and implementing ecological art to affect environmental change. In the contemporary global art market, the art is often labeled a commodity. However, many arts organizations and artists today are looking to expand the usefulness of art, and U.K. organization Creative Carbon Scotland is leading the way. 

By Allison Palenske

Every summer, MoMA and MoMA PS1’s Young Architects Program offers emerging designers the opportunity to develop innovative structures to serve as the backdrop for MoMA PS1’s Warm Up summer music series. This summer, be sure to stop by the courtyard at MoMA PS1 to marvel at the beauty of The Living’s Hy-Fi, a structure built entirely of organic material. This piece of architecture was tested to withstand hurricane winds, sun, rain, and the outdoor music series, proving that organic materials just might be the building blocks of the future. 


By Megan Guerber

Ben Davis is many things. He’s a gorilla logo on a line of work clothes, he’s a former Major League Baseball catcher, and he’s also a lighting designer. That’s the Ben Davis I want to talk about. Davis is a member of Illuminate the Arts (ITA), the collective that worked with artist Leo Villareal to bring The Bay Lights display on the San Francisco Bay Bridge into existence. As noted on the website, their vision is to “alter the arc of human history through the creation of transformational works of public art.” Well, last Saturday he did that, and I was lucky enough to be standing on the ground looking up to witness first-hand Pi In The Sky.

By Larissa Zimberoff

I met Sam at SciArt Center's launch party. From our quick yet captivating conversation she was personable, intellectual, and dedicated to her craft. Conceptually driven, her artworks are created by crossing disciplines as she combines illustration, drawing and fashion into hybrid installations. Her artwork is environmental, filled with fascinating materials and textures that juxtapose in new-found ways to expand the possibilities of exhibiting multi-media work. She is an artist, interested in the sciences, and her SciArt is captivating in its colorful complexity. 

Read an interview with Sam Talbot-Kelly and SAiA web editor Danielle Kalamaras

What if we could grow our own spare body parts? What would life be like without bees? What if we had to start again? These questions were posed in rooms displaying jars of de-cellularized organs, landscapes of photographed flesh, and sketches of an imaginary cold-blooded and eyeless “Homo Sentire” at GV Arts.  

GV Arts was showcasing the work of second year students from the University of Westminster who had signed up for Broad Vision, a one year interdisciplinary art and science elective. The theme for this year’s class was “Future Human” speculating on how we as human beings might sustain, adapt and evolve. As a hub for the interplay between contemporary artists and scientists, GV Arts holds public events alongside its exhibitions. One of these was Future Human: Symposium on June 26, an evening of presentations and a panel discussion from those involved in Broad Vision. 

By Liane Fredericks

Fridays at SAiA are dedicated to the news and upcoming events of the SciArt Center. 

Just this week SciArt Center will be hosting a myriad of events as the curtain closes on its summer location and the organization transitions into its role as a virtual community. On Saturday, Harmonium-viola duo Strider will present an evening of math-based improvisations. Visual artist and Neuroscientist Rodrigo Valles Jr. and Leah T Abraha will give a lecture on Monday about a collaborative effort to create an interdisciplinary art-science department. Rounding out the week, Vincent di Giacomo, a postdoctoral researcher at New York University Medical Center, will be giving a lecture on his research in cancer drug therapy.

Continue reading for more exciting news happening this week at the SciArt Center, as well as SciArt Center's Director of Operations Yasmin Tayag's thoughts on yesterday's event, a screening of Noah Hutton's film Bluebrain.

Sci-fi and tech culture prevail as influences amid the festival’s busy program

Each year in August, the population of the Scottish city of Edinburgh explodes with visitors for the city’s numerous arts and culture festivals. Visitors attend arts exhibitions, comedy shows, music performances, and theater productions, all amid a city buzzing with street performers on nearly every corner. 

The Edinburgh Art Festival, founded in 2004, is the UK’s largest annual visual arts festival and is one of the six festivals taking place this month. The SciArt thread is strong this year as environment and ecology, as well as cosmology and sci-fi, are key influences throughout venues.

By Allison Palenske

Last weeks monthly mixer at The SciArt Center was an opportunity to meet and greet artists and enthusiasts interested in the intersection between the arts and sciences. I chatted with sculptors and playwrights about molecular biology and economic theory, organically building future relationships for enticing collaborations. After drinking wine over engaging conversations with old friends and new acquaintances, Stanley Kubrick's fan favorite 2001: A Space Odyssey was projected onto the big screen.

Now I'm a Kubrick fanatic. Having voraciously consumed all of his creations, 2001 holds a special place in my heart for its adventures into Science Fiction. The origins of Sci-Fi began with man’s alienation of scientific advancements with machine technology chronicling the fear and anxiety arising from the mechanization of labor during the 19th century Industrial Revolution. The Sci-Fi genre into the 21st century is defined by the fear of machines' hegemony--technophobia—as industrially mechanized labor becomes status quo as a tactic of efficiency—turning man into a machine and the machine into the arbiter or power.

By Danielle Kalamaras