Imperial Fringe: The arts experiment

Main Entrance, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus
Imperial Fringe: The arts experiment image
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Event has ended
This event ended on Thursday 21st of February 2013
Admission
Free
Venue Information
Imperial College
South Kensington campus, SW7 2AZ
Nearest Tube/Rail Stations
Gloucester Road 0.46 miles

Dancing robots, musical machines and juggling brains are just some of the interactive exhibits programmed for the next public evening Imperial Fringe event – The arts experiment – which takes place Thursday 21 February at Imperial College London’s Main Entrance on Exhibition Road.

The event is part of Imperial’s ArtsFest, and showcases collaborations where leading scientists have joined up with the College’s art, music and performance student societies to offer a different insight into the crossover between art and science.

Among the demonstrations, neuroscientist Dr Ed Roberts finds out whether jugglers have bigger brains. Fashion designer Dr Manel Torres uses his spray-on fabric developed with the Department of Chemical Engineering to help Imperial’s Fashion Society style Nao, the dancing robot designed by the Music Technology Society.

The Music Technology Society also presents a musical table that reacts with tuneful sounds when objects are placed on it. The Chamber Music Society and Imperial College String Ensemble use physics to demonstrate sound waves and new ways of telling a viola from a cello.

Other activities include monitoring couples’ balance during ballroom dancing and looking at the social side of animal behaviour with a Caelidh.

The arts experiment is part of a series of monthly evening public events for people to explore the unexpected side of science, inspired by Imperial’s ground-breaking research. Visitors will meet academics and performers for a voyage of discovery, debate and hands-on demonstrations.

The event will be held as part of the College’s ArtsFest, a week-long celebration of arts, music and dance – and everything in between – that Imperial has to offer.

Activities taking place at the Imperial Fringe event include:

• Meet Nao, the dancing robot. Teach it your best dance moves and find out how Nao springs to life with the Music Technology Society.

• Watch soundwaves in action as the Chamber Music Society uses sand, metal plates and a bit of homemade vibration with Helga Laszlo from the School of Public Health.

• Hit the dance floor with the Caledonian Society with a traditional Caelidh and explore the curious link with insect behaviour with Diptera Curator from the Natural History Museum, Duncan Sivell.

• Do jugglers have bigger brains? Try some tricks, and learn about what goes on in the mind of a juggler with neuroscientist Ed Roberts and the Juggling Society.

• Take a tango with the Dance Society as they team up with PhD researcher Shamim Quadir to look at the precarious role of balance in couples dancing.

• Robot fashion? Spray-on clothing designer and chemical engineer Manel Torres teams up with the Fashion Society to style Nao, the dancing robot. What will you design?

• Does dancing make you less dizzy? Join neurologist Barry Seemungal and the Dance Company to test your spins and pirouettes, comparing your susceptibility to dizziness with dancers.

• Learn to tell your viola from your cello as Imperial College String Ensemble take to physics to look at some of the science behind strings, bows and musical instruments.

• Marvel at the musical Reactable, a table that makes music according to what you place on it. Create your own tunes with the Music Technology Society.

The event is free to attend and a pay bar will be open throughout.

Tags: Exhibition

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