A Special Place for Blog Lovers with a Touch of Science!

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Fredrik Soegaard and Soundmapping the Genes

The time has come to give you a little teaser for yet another of the upcoming workshops in this year's SGEM Florence Conference.

Soundmapping the Genes is a research-based artistic project in the field between biology and music. It is using DNA code-sequence and structures it in musical form. The complete code-sequence of the H1 histamin protein of the rainbow trout is translated into MIDI language and can be used simply as a melody - consisting of 642 notes - or as information, running electronic music parameters in real-time live music settings.

As Glenn Astarita from All About Jazz stated: "DNA is elevated into a mesmeric showcase, where Frederick Soegaard intermixes psycho-rock guitar with the MIDIgenemap and TC FireworX software to complement his band mates' use of computers, electronics, and percussion. With sweeping sounds and oscillating single note implementations, the trio (it is usually performed by three musicians) poses a transient musical environment, starkly different from old school type computer-generated beeps and blips."

Below you can enjoy a short video from a previous show of Soundmapping the Genes.

Here you can see more information about all the workshops during the 8th edition of the SGEM Florence Conference.

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The brain - mystery (un)solved

The human brain is arguably the most complicated thing in the known universe. After centuries of introspection, examinations, and experiments, we still don't know a lot about it. Of course, we've made all these terms, divided its structure into different areas, each one responsible for particular functions. But the truth is that the brain works as a holistic union and is not a composite of various parts but a single unit within the human body. However, it is a lot easier to understand it, if we use concepts and differentiate one part from another. Like the one put forth by Paul MacLean – the triune brain – that it is coming in three functional layers. The most bottom and ancient one – Reptilian Brain. Second – the Limbic System or Emotional Brain, "having to do with fear, arousal, anxieties, sexual longings, all those sorts of things – very mammalian". And third, The Cortex – responsible for thinking planning, moral judgments, etc.

Below you can enjoy an elucidating explanation of these three layers of the brain, their evolution, complex conversation, and connection with our behavior. Take a look at the video made by Robert Sapolsky, a professor of Biology and Neurology at Stanford University and a Research Associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.

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Don Foresta's Workshop at the SGEM Florence Conference

This year's edition of the SGEM Florence Conference is proud to present you with the world-renowned media artist Don Foresta. Foresta will acquaint our audience with a workshop based on his work Multiple Worlds (Mondes Multiple). The book lays out his theories on the relation between art and science, art using new technologies, the role of the artist as researcher, and Foresta's conviction that we have been living a new renaissance for over 100 years with a profound transformation of how we understand and represent reality in both art and science. 

Here you can see more information about all the workshops during the 8th edition of the SGEM Florence Conference.

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  Ray Bradbury

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't "try" to do things. You simply "must" do things."

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Call for workshops and performances in Florence

We present you with three of the already confirmed workshops for this year's SGEM Florence Conference. Part of one of the main focuses of SWS Scientific Society – the prolific rendezvous of Science and Art – these sessions will immerse you into the creative realms where scientific achievements enrich the artistic imagination and vice versa. Our mission is to facilitate the conversation between the artists and the scientists in order to show how elucidating and inspiring their collaboration could be.

We invite you to participate with your own workshop or as a spectator, and why not both. It's up to you!

Follow the links below for more detailed information about our workshop sessions:

Call for Workshops

Call for Performers