Upcoming Public Lecture: Art and Society's Perpetual Disruption by the Ongoing Scientific Revolution
Internationally renowned artist, Royden Rabinowitch O.C. will deliver a public speech on the artist's response to humanity's ongoing "crisis of being" caused by the ongoing scientific revolution and on his recent sculpture, The Waterloo Bell - Bell for Kepler, at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) on Thursday, March 26th at 7:00 pm.
IQC Director, Dr. Raymond Laflamme said: "IQC is very pleased that the sculptor and the City of Waterloo wanted the 10' high steel sculpture to oxidize and "marinate" in the intellectual ferment of experimental and scientific activities at IQC until the end of May 2009 when it will be placed in its permanent location in the new Civic Square at King St. and Willis Way."
Using the scientific and artistic influences on his own works of art and referring to works by other major artists, Rabinowitch will address arts obligation to create powerful metaphors to facilitate comprehension of the continuing societal disruption caused by the truths discovered by the ongoing scientific revolution, including truths discovered by Waterloo's theoretical physicists. In that context he will talk about his own Waterloo Bell: Bell for Kepler, commissioned by the City as a tribute to Waterloo's past, present and future ability to juggle scientific analysis and faith, as did mathematician and astronomer, Johannes Kepler.
Dr. Raymond Laflamme said: "The Bell is also an appropriate symbol of Rabinowitch's talk at IQC on this important subject as Bells are a traditional call to community for discussion, alarm, worship and celebration. Appropriately, some may also think that in addition to looking like it is made of barrel parts, the Bell for Kepler sculpture looks like an observatory or meridian lines. Coincidentally, the Kepler space telescope looking for other earths was launched last week."
Rabinowitch has often said that in spite of his success that he would rather have been a theoretical physicist. The event will take place at IQC in the Research Advancement Centre located in the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park, 475 Wes Graham Way, Waterloo.*Limited space is available.
About Royden Rabinowitch O.C., L.M. (Cantab): Rabinowitch's works are in major public and private collections around the world. The prestigious Stedelijk Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Amsterdam owns 44 of his major works, more than any other artist including Picasso, Judd, and Smith. More than 20 of his works constituted the largest single permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and Contemporary in Geneva, Switzerland. They are also in the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Watari Museum in Tokyo, and the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.The National Gallery of Canada has more than 35 of his works in its permanent collection.
The Art Gallery of Ontario has 88 of his works. In Montreal both the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Art have his works.Jan Hoet, Director of the new Frank Gehry Museum, MARTa in Herford, Germany has stated that Rabinowitch's sculpture, Judgment on the Copernican Revolution, is "the most important judgment on culture since Tatlin's tower" in 1920. Rabinowitch is an Officer of the Order of Canada, the second highest civilian honour that Canada confers. In 1986 Rabinowitch became the only artist to be named a Life Member, Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He has spoken often on the relationship of science and art. He has given addresses to numerous universities including: Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, Yale, St. Andrews, Leijden, Warsaw, Berlin's Technische UniversitÃt and the Universitat der KÃnste and the Jagiellonian University in Kracow.
About IQC: Founded in 2002, the mission of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) is to aggressively explore and advance the application of quantum mechanical systems to a vast array of relevant information processing techniques.
A part of the University of Waterloo, IQC creates a truly unique environment that fosters cutting-edge research and collaboration between researchers in the areas of computer, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences.
At the time of this release, IQC has 18 faculty members, 20 postdoctoral fellows and over 73 students and research assistants, as well as a support staff of 10.