February 17, 2011 - Seth Riskin

Light and the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies

This presentation will look at light as it was developed as an artistic medium at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) 1967 - 2003. CAVS was a place where artists collaborated with scientists and engineers in developing technologies for purposes of artistic expression. As a medium and a common denominator between artists, scientists and engineers, light was central to the founding concept, activities and objectives of CAVS. Technologies such as laser, plasma, holography, video and strobe were pioneered as artistic media by artists and engineers such as Gyorgy Kepes, Otto Piene, Harold Edgerton, Stephen Benton, Harriet Casdin-Silver and Krzysztof Wodiczko--groundbreaking work that expanded the language of the visual arts and   impacts thought and practice in the arts today.

Seth Riskin

A former painter and national champion gymnast, Seth Riskin earned his master’s degree from the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies in 1989. As a graduate student, he invented body-mounted light instruments to combine his visual art and movement ability in an original art form known as Light Dance. Light Dances are silent, space-defining performances of light effects articulated through Riskin's body movements. His artwork has been performed widely, at venues such as India's National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Sao Paulo Biennial. Riskin's research, described as "anthropology" of light, led him to India in 1993 on a Fulbright scholarship to study light in Hindu concept and ritual practices. The courses he's developed, such as "The Architecture of Light" and "Light as an Artistic Medium", have been taught at MIT, the Rhode Island School of Design and other universities. He currently heads the Holography and Spatial Imaging Initiative at the MIT Museum, concerned with the care and development of the world's largest and most significant collection of holograms in the historical, social and research contexts of emerging 3-D imaging and display technologies.

Reservations:

DINNER reservations are required by 6 PM, February 13, 2011, the Sunday of the meeting. MEETING ONLY reservations are required by noon, February 15, 2011, the Tuesday of the meeting.

Please make reservations online. Reservations may also be left on the answering machine at 617.584.0266. We no longer have an email address for reservations due to SPAM. When making reservation requests, please provide the following information:

  • DINNER AND MEETING or meeting only
  • Name(s) and membership status
  • Daytime phone number where you can be reached (in case of change or cancellation)

Location:

MIT Museum
Building N51
265 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Networking—5:45 PM, Dinner—6:30, Meeting—7:30 PM.

Vegetarian option available on request

Dinner Prices:

  Register on/before
DINNER Reservation Date
Late Reservation or
at the door 
NES/OSA Members and their guests $25.00 each $30.00
Students $15.00 $15.00
Non-members $30.00 (See NOTE Below) $35.00

NES/OSA accepts cash and checks at the door for dinner payment. If you would like to pay be Credit Card please press the Pay Now button to be directed to PayPal.

NOTE: The NES/OSA has not changed dinner prices in several years but has been facing higher costs. We will maintain the current dinner prices for those reserving dinner on the requested date but still try to accommodate late reservations.

Membership Type

You do not need to have a PayPal account to pay with a credit card.

 

 

 

NOTE: The NES/OSA has not changed dinner prices in several years but has been facing higher costs. We will maintain the current dinner prices for those reserving dinner on the requested date but still try to accommodate late reservations.

General Information on NES/OSA Meetings

Cancellations and No-shows:

If the meeting must be canceled for any reason, we will try to call you at the phone number you leave with your reservation. Official notice of cancellation will be on our answering machine.

We have to pay for the dinners reserved as of the Tuesday before the meeting, so no-shows eat into our cash reserve. If you will not be able to attend, please let us know as early as possible. Otherwise, no-shows will be billed.

Membership Rates:

Regular members $15.00
Student members free

 

 

 

NOTE: The extra $5.00 of the non-member dinner fee can be used toward membership dues if the nonmember joins and pays dues for the current year at the meeting.