4/28/2011
Joseph Nechvatal

Report on my participation in The Creativity and Design Workshop II, Monday, April 25th 2011 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts. Organized by Dava Newman and Guillermo Trotti.

My participation in the workshop was graciously sponsored by The School of Visual Arts MFACA Department.

Participants included: Guillermo Trotti, Juan Diaz Infante, Dava Newman, Josh Simpson, Chris Newbert, Diana Cabeza, Jorge Hampton, Mickey Ackerman, Mary Ellen Strom, Matthew S. Kressy and nine graduate students.

I arrived by bus and subway on the Sunday evening of April 24th and was taken to a fine restaurant for dinner by the host Guillermo Trotti. Also present were Juan Diaz Infante, Dava Newman, Diana Cabeza and Jorge Hampton. Over a fine meal we engaged in a wide-ranging conversation on the broad topics of the conference: Creativity, Mutidisciplinary Design, Education and Research, and the creative fusion of Engineering, Science, Design and Art.

The next morning, the 25th, the workshop/conference took place in the Kiva Room at The Ray and Maria Stata Center, an unorthodox building created by Frank Gehry.

9 am – 12 pm
Each participant delivered a 10-minute presentation on their work. I spoke first, specifically on the topic of the uses of artistic noise within creativity. I spoke of my new book Immersion Into Noise (University of Michigan Library’s Scholarly Publishing Office in conjunction with Open Humanities Press). I then presented a 4 minute excerpt from my digital animation Viral Venture that was presented on February 10th, 2011 at the SVA Theatre at 333 West 23 Street.

Present in the Kiva Room were Guillermo Trotti, Juan Diaz Infante, Dava Newman, Diana Cabeza, Jorge Hampton, Mickey Ackerman, Mary Ellen Strom, Matthew S. Kressy and five graduate students.

After each presentation, there was 5 minutes of time allotted for discussion and questions. The range and quality of the work and ideas was impressive. We each formed a better idea of who was participating in the conference and roughly what their point of view was. Each member of the group had something different to say about new technology, multidisciplinary design and art as research.

12 pm Lunch: MIT faculty lunchroom

From 1 pm – 4 pm we regrouped in round table form in the Stata Star Conference Room.

Here the discussion and debate was tightly focused on four questions:
1) Where do we look for creative inspiration in our work?
2) What tools do we use to spark the creative process?
3) How do we actually realize/implement creativity in practice?
4) What are the global challenges and opportunities in the 21st Century?

While I am unable to formulate a conclusion or an answer to the posed questions based on this interaction, I believe the discussion document (taken down furiously by a stenographer) will prove to be of considerable interest. I am awaiting this document and will transmit it to SVA MFACA Department.

From 5 pm – 7 pm the discussion continued at a wine reception on the 4th Floor.

At 7:30 pm we attended an outstanding performance of "Forged in the Stars" by storyteller Jay O'Callahan.

At 9 pm we were provided a splendid dinner back on the 4th Floor.

Day 2
On Tuesday, April 26 I attended the morning session of the Earth, Air, Ocean and Space: The Future of Exploration Symposium held at the Kresge Auditorium.

The first session included welcoming presentations by Eric Grimson PhD '80, Bernard Gordon Professor of Medical Engineering, EECS, MIT and Chancellor, MIT, David A. Mindell PhD '96, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of Engineering Systems; Head of the MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society; Chair of the MIT150 Steering Committee and Dava J. Newman SM '89 PhD '92, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of Engineering Systems and Director of the Technology and Policy Program, MIT.

The topic of the following panel was Great Ages of Exploration and Discovery, This ran from 9-10:30 am. It provided us with an historical perspective of exploration and discovery. The speakers were: Stephen J. Pyne, Regents' Professor, Arizona State University, Rosalind Williams, Bern Dibner Professor of the History of Science and Technology, MIT, David A. Mindell PhD '96, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of Engineering Systems; Head of the MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society; Chair of the MIT150 Steering Committee. This was followed by a loose discussion entitled: Astronaut Alumni Panel: Exploration and Discovery. It ran from 11 am -12:30 pm and included: Buzz Aldrin, John Grunsfeld, Terry Hart, Rick Hauck and Byron Lichtenberg. They spoke broadly on the topics of spaceflight experiences that include Gemini and Apollo and Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions.
This was followed by a box lunch.
Following lunch, I went to the List Visual Arts Center and caught the second session of a conference on Magazines and Their Role in Architecture and Artistic Research Practice. This was an interesting roundtable that included Jorge Otero-Pailos, Michael Schwab, Pelin Tan and Moderator Ute Meta Bauer.

I took the bus back to New York City at 4pm.