The middle ground: Where art meets science

Geraldine will be exploring the first complex creatures, the atom, and the magnetic connections between our Earth and Sun. We will look, hear, feel, create, and imagine. Geraldine has degrees in both physics and fine art and began her project ‘Finding Patterns’ in 2011 at Imperial College. She recently received the American Institute of Physics ‘Andrew Gemant Award’ for sharing physics concepts through the visual arts and reaching a remarkable range of people in innovative ways. 

Headphones have fundamentally shifted the way music is heard. No longer tied to a physical location, it can now be experienced solely 'in our heads'. Bruno will discuss the challenges this has created for music producers, who must respond to way we move through the world, but has also opened up new opportunities as headphone technology continues to develop. Dr Bruno Bower (FRSA, FHEA) is a musicologist, performer, composer, and music editor. He currently teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the University of Surrey, and adult courses at Imperial College London.

Maria will be using her scientific and artistic backgrounds to produce art throughout the evening with a range of traditional and non traditional pigments. This will be a wonderful chance to see the production of art with knowledgeable commentary about the materials used to produce it. Maria completed two years of Painting and Drawing at the Macedonio de la Torre School of Fine Arts while also earning her Chemical Engineering degree at the National University of Trujillo (Peru). She moved to the UK, obtaining a MSc in Analytical Chemistry and a Doctorate in Environmental Engineering.

In this talk, we will explore the hidden dimensions of our sense of smell – how it works, why it sometimes doesn’t and what we can do to improve it. Too often neglected, our sense of smell contributes to many aspects of our everyday experience, from recognizing our kin, remembering places we have been, signalling our emotional states, identifying danger, tasting our food and even falling in love. We will find out if we can name familiar odours, try tasting with a nose clip, and learn what it means to be without the scents of our surroundings.