Lecture by David Krakauer The Scientific Nature and Artistic Culture of Landscape

The Scientific Nature and Artistic Culture of Landscape: Naturalists, Classifiers and Model Builders

David Krakauer is a professor and faculty chair at the Santa Fe Institute, where his research includes, in part, the evolution of cultural forms, the electronic dissemination of images, and the crossover of mathematical, scientific and artistic reasoning. In addition to considering visual arts, Krakauer is collaborating on a project on the cultural evolution of the novel. “We treat the novel as a window into society,” he describes, “and consider issues such as the dynamics of titles, the dimensions of genre, and the changing structure of concept space.”

Krakauer will offer a unique “window” onto the landscape works by some of the artists in Manmade, as seen through the lens of science. His lecture will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2009, at 6 p.m.

This is one in a  series of lectures presented in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition Manmade: Notions of Landscape from the Lannan Collection. Other lectures feature photographer Thomas Joshua Cooper (October 15) and artists Bill Gilbert and Victoria Sambunaris (December 3). Sponsored by the Lannan Foundation.

St. Francis Auditorium, New Mexico Museum of Art Santa Fe Plaza, 107 West Palace Avenue November 19, 6 p.m. Free admission.