A gathering of artists, curators, gallerists and theorists to investigate and debate the role of scientific and technological experiment in contemporary art practice—when is an artwork a science project, and when is a science project an artwork?  Our guest speakers will present a variety of perspectives on the topic, ranging from historical to curatorial to practical to economical.  The talks will be followed by an open panel discussion to address and debate the presented ideas interactively with the audience.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Georgia Krantz, Education Manager, Guggenheim
• Kyle McDonald, Artist
• Isabel Draves, Founder, Leaders in Software and Art (LISA)
• Luther Davis, Artist
• Keynote by Ted Hayes and Alex Dodge, Artists

Presenter Biographies:

Georgia Krantz works full-time as the Education Manager for Adult Interpretive Programs at the Guggenheim Museum.  She is an art historian with extensive teaching experience from Ancient to Contemporary Art.  She is Adjunct Professor at the New School as well as ITP, and lectures at the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography.  Over the past few years she has been involved in several outside projects including an NEA-funded educational website for the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, and Vital Visionaries, a study by the National Institute on Aging on the value of art for promoting intergenerational communication.  She has an MA in Art History (Northern Renaissance and Baroque Art), and is working on her Ph.D dissertation in Modern Art.

Kyle McDonald works with sounds and codes, exploring translation, contextualization, and similarity. With a background in philosophy and computer science, he strives to integrate intricate processes and structures with accessible, playful realizations that often have a do-it-yourself, open-source aesthetic.
http://kylemcdonald.net/

Isabel Walcott Draves started Leaders in Software and Art (LISA), an organization founded to bring together cutting-edge technology artists, curators, collectors, coders and collaborators, in 2009. Since then, the project, which is run part-time by volunteers, has hosted private salons all over New York City featuring presentations by artists who work with technology; interviewed a selection of artists on the blog at https://softwareandart.com; promoted the shows and careers of its alumni speakers on Twitter @softwareandart; and is planning a conference for Fall 2012.  Isabel is the founder (in 1996) and former CEO of SmartGirl.org, the first social media site for teenage girls.  In her more gainful moments, Isabel is an Internet strategy consultant.  She has worked in project management, research, and marketing at multiple technology endeavors large and small, including Bertelsmann, Gartner, and Linden Lab.  Isabel has a BA in Literature from Harvard and a MA in Communications, Computing and Technology from Columbia.