Université de Strasbourg

Art-science event - Capacity, crackling and collaboration

From June 2, 2023 until June 3, 2023
From 18:30 until 21:00
ESPACE | Ancienne Manufacture des Tabacs | Salle Halle d’Accueil | 7 Rue de la Krutenau, 67000 Strasbourg

How the tiniest cracks inspire a large-scale performance

Dance can be a powerful tool for science communication and has been used as such over the years, at the level of primary school to university. Moreover, it can help scientists to better understand their own research, as they aim to translate their work into nonverbal dynamics.

“Science dancing” goes back at least to the classic “Protein Synthesis: An Epic on the Cellular Level” performed at Stanford in 1971; and the Journal Science has held an annual competition “Dance your Ph.D.” since 2008, to encourage graduate students to embody their research. Read more.

Martha Eppes is professor of geoscience at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), USA, Fellow at the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study and Fulbright Scholar. She works on unravelling the complex dynamics of rock fractures; the natural process of cracking of rock, which is a foundational geologic process contributing to a myriad of Earth surface systems spanning from carbon sequestration, to soil formation, to the evolution of life.

In three independent - but related - events across two days of conversation, dance and multidisciplinary workshops, this research will be presented in its many different dimensions, with the involvement of dancer and choreographer Melissa Riker (Kinesis Project Dance Theater in New York City). These events will show how an active collaboration of art and science can strengthen the communication of complex insights about our changing environment.

Programme

Friday 2 June 2023
18:30-21:30 - Art-science collaboration panel and discussion 

Saturday 3 June 2023
10:00-17:00 - Dance workshop
18:00-21:00 - Dance performance and science lecture on rock fracturing by Martha Eppes

Registration is required for all events and participation is free, except for the dance workshop for which a participation of 20€ is charged. The event is co-facilitated by Katiouschka Kuhn, INLAND Centre Européen de Théâtre Physique, Strasbourg.

Read more about Martha Eppes and her USIAS project Rock fracture over geologic time: seeking insight at the crossroads of rock physics and Earth surface processes.

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