The Iron Genie is a harmonograph, artist Anita Chowdry’s modern re-imagination of a Victorian piece of tech art. It’s an interactive kinetic sculpture driven by pendulum movements. It’s a drawing device, sort of a steampunk Spirograph.
Anita Chowdry will visit University of Waterloo in February to give a joint Bridges Lecture at St. Jerome’s with mathematical physicist Dr. John Baez but before she can give that talk, she’s coming to the Fine Art department to build two working wooden harmonographs to demonstrate at the lecture. Students will spend most of the week of February 22nd to 26th building, using and demonstrating two different types of working harmonograph, working closely with Ms. Chowdry.
The Bridges Lecture will be held in Siegfried Hall at St. Jerome’s University, 7:30 p.m., Friday, February 26th, 2016. Speakers will be artist Anita Chowdry and mathematical physicist Dr. John Baez. Students from the Department of Fine Arts will demonstrate the harmonograph and show drawings. Refreshments will be served.