CogNovo research fellow Agi Haines and supervisor Sue Denham will be speaking at "Worlding the Brain 2016" on 18/Mar/2016 at the University of Amsterdam. Agi Haines will present her latest work "Drones with Desires" and an exploration of the implications of recognising the fabric of the body as a potential design material. Sue Denham will be talking about the CogNovo programme, cognitive innovation and creativity in a talk entitled ‘The Creativity Function’.
Agi Haines' "Drones with Desires" is a project that questions the modelling techniques associated with manipulating brain plasticity. Looking at how simulacrums are made to replicate the fluid and manipulatable structure of the brain, and whether a public audience does feel as though these models can be a suitable comparison to highlight how their actions may have an affect on the sensitive structure of our anatomy. This artwork is an ongoing collaboration that intends to utilise an artificial neural network based on MRI brain data to create an updating system while it traverses an environment.
Sue Denham's talk "The Creativity Function" will focus on how interest in the brain pervades modern culture, and has been accompanied by a shift from basic measurement towards cognitive, artistic and creative functional questions. For example, how are the functional and structural properties of the brain shaped by the embodied material, cultural and social environment in which it is situated?
"Worlding the Brain" is an interdisciplinary symposium that aims to stimulate a productive consideration of the mutual influence of the extra-cerebral world on the brain and the brain on the world, and comparisons between the patterns, rhythms, and narratives of the Neurosciences and the Humanities. The three day symposium will be held from 17th to 19th of March 2016 at the University of Amsterdam and invites neuroscientists, artists, and humanities scholars from all over the world to discuss the implications placing "[...] the brain in worldy contexts, study its interaction with various environments and reflect upon its entanglements with cultural practices and processes" (from worldingthebrain2016.com).