Critical Praxis for the Emerging Culture

April 15-16
The St. Louis Projection
8 p.m., St. Louis Old Courthouse, 11 North Fourth Street,

Friday, April 16
Steinberg Auditorium, Gallery of Art, Steinberg Hall
Near the intersection of Forsyth and Skinker boulevards

Film/Installation/Performance: Spatial Formations
9:30 am - 12:30 pm

* Welcome: Cynthia Weese, FAIA
Dean, School of Architecture, Washington University

* Opening: Paul Donnelly
Voyles Professor of Architecture at Washington University

* Introduction: Sung Ho Kim
Assistant Professor School of Architecture (WashU)

* Panelists: Hisham Bizri, Seth Riskin and Omar Khan

* Moderator: Philip Walsh
Assistant Professor of Art History at Northeastern University

Technology and Design Between Theory and Practice
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

* Introduction: Jeff Pike
Dean, School of Art, Washington University

* Panelists: Adam Whiton, Carl Miller and Warren Sack

* Moderator: Philip Walsh

Saturday, April 17
Steinberg Auditorium, Gallery of Art, Steinberg Hall
Near the intersection of Forsyth and Skinker boulevards

Complexity of Cultural Shifts: Projecting Critical Praxis
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

* Introduction: Gruia-Catalin Roman
Professor and Chair, Department of Computer Science & Engineering
School of Engineering & Applied Science, Washington Univeristy

* Panelists: Jennifer Gonzalez and Philip Walsh

* Moderator: Carol Strohecker
Principal Investigator and a member of the Steering Group, Media Lab Europe, Dublin

* Closing remarks: Carol Strohecker

Participant Artists/Designers

Hisham Bizri, international filmmaker and artist, will present and lecture on his digital films developed through virtual environments. His work demonstrates the merging of digital and physical crafting within a cinematic process. He has shown his films in international festivals and at the Museum of Modern Art in NY, and has won the Excellence in Film award at the Louvre Museum, France. His recent work has been in virtual environments (CAVE), digital film, interactive installations, and computer animation. Hisham teaches theory of interactive spaces in films at MIT's Media Lab.

Omar Khan, architect, will present his exploration in the disciplines of architecture, performance art and digital media. His research addresses issues of migration, domesticity and identity politics in public space. Through the use of digital media, Khan's research looks at ways to develop temporal representations of spaces, modeling and prototyping strategies for such spaces and creating digitally mediated/enhanced spaces for work and performance. He is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo School of Architecture.

Carl Miller, architect, will present his development on the Interactive Terrain project. This project focuses on the transformation of public spaces by developing a multi-responsive design strategy through digital media. Carl's work investigates the techniques of prototyping. He is an Assistant Professor at Chicago's Art Institute in the Department of Interior Design.

Seth Riskin, international artist and gymnast, will perform and lecture on the tools that coordinate body movement and light phenomena in space. He develops the choreography-incorporating his gymnastic ability, specific light effects and interior architecture - that gives his quiet, space-defining light language its effectiveness. He is a Light Sculptor who currently teaches at the MIT's Media Lab and Rhode Island School of Design. Seth has performed his Light Dances worldwide in art festivals.

Adam Whiton, industrial designer, will demonstrate his invention of the No-Contact Jacket. This project calls attention to violence against women and to offer an alternative response to the body's vulnerable space and boundaries that society, culture and fashion have created by deploying technological medium. He is a research assistant at MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies and a member of the Interrogative Design Group.

Krzysztof Wodiczko is an International Artist who has exhibited worldwide. He is Director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT. His work involves using technology and media to transform cultural and ethical conditions.

Participant Scientists

Warren Sack, scientist and theorist, will present a paper on the dynamic shift in cultural perception as a result of mass media and internet technology. He will argue for the invention of new prototypes for educational tools and environments. He is an Assistant Professor of Technology and Social Studies at UC Berkeley. His work is involved with ethical and social behaviors in technological driven societies. He is the inventor of several web based interactive information machines.

Carol Strohecker, scientist and educator, will moderate and present the development in design and research education. She will focus on the process of learning through a design-oriented education with technological endeavor. She is a Principal Investigator and a member of the Steering Group of the Media Lab Europe in Dublin. She was the Scientists for the Mitsubishi Research Corporation and a Professor at MIT's Media Lab. Her interest is in how technology and learning interact.

Participant Theorists

Jennifer Gonzalez, art historian, will present a paper on topics of gender and transformation of body images in the media culture. She will also develop a dialogue between the artists, designers, architects and scientists for further exploration on political and social issues in their works. She is an Assistant Professor of Art History at UC Santa Cruz. Her research is on women's body images transformed by the media and technological culture.

Philip Walsh, art historian, will act as the moderator for the symposium and present critical analyses on the relationships between all the works being presented in a cultural and social context. He is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Northeastern University. His research is the development of media culture and the effects of technology on artistic processes.