Gallery Talk – Applied Motion Studies: Artists and Scientists Consider Movement

Join us for a gallery talk celebrating the opening of Applied Motion Studies: Artists and Scientists Consider Movement, a video exhibition curated by Matt Malsky, Director of the Higgins School of Humanities. Special guests will include exhibition contributors and Clark University faculty members  Philip Bergmann, Stephen DiRado, and James Maurelle. Admission to the talk is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Applied Motion Studies: Artists and Scientists Consider Movement is a video exhibition featuring a diverse array of short films that blend the creative visions of artists with the analytical perspectives of scientists. This stellar collection delves into the fascinating world of motion, exploring the intricacies of human and animal movement in ways imaginative, inventive, methodical, systematic, and technical.

The exhibition considers a myriad of movements, from the graceful to the dynamic: the fluidity of running, the poetry of colliding forces, the mesmerizing mirroring of gestures, the deliberate crawl of lizards, the fantastical flight of planes and fireflies, the rhythmic dance of swimming, the boundless joy — and anxiety — of jumping, the thrilling chase, the explosive pop, the gradual escalation, and the playful wink. These are all seen through the lens of artistic expression and scientific observation.

Contributors include:

• Alison Chen, Los Angeles and New York based visual artist/ Run into the Other. / Collide.& Mirror the movements of the other. (2012)
• Stephen DiRado, Professor of Practice, Clark University / JUMP (2016)
• James Maurelle, Assistant Professor, Clark University / Joe (2014), Six Billion Dollar Duddley (2014), Intervention (2015), & Stogie One (2014)
• Original research footage by Frank & Dr. Lillian Gilbreth, American early advocates of scientific management / Gilbreth Time-and-Motion Study #1 (1924 / 2024, with soundtrack by Matt Malsky)
• A documentary about American scientist and researcher Harold “Doc” Edgerton, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Quicker’n a Wink (1940)
• Faculty and students of The Bergmann Evolutionary Functional Morphology Lab at Clark University /Animal Locomotion Studies

The exhibition will be on display from February 27 through May 20, 2024 in the Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons on the Clark University campus.

The exhibition runs in a loop lasting approximately one hour. Standard hours of admission are Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30am to 3:30pm, but the schedule may vary due to University holidays and closures.

Please contact HigginsSchool@clarku.edu for more information or to arrange a viewing.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities as part of the Spring 2024 symposium on Movement.