Time is accelerating as we prepare for participation in the 2015 Havana Biennial in Havana Cuba opening May 22, 2015. We have been invited to participate in a collective exhibit, “Between, Inside, Outside” which will take place in the Pabellon building in the district of Vedado. In this blog we will be documenting about the experience and sharing photos and videos from Havana (as internet allows)

The project that was accepted is called pARTicles: Merging projection art and particle physics. I am collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of programmers, artists, scientists, students and educators to investigate how we can create art and education interventions to explore emerging particle physics theories that are radically challenging our understanding of ourselves and our universe.

We believe that a personal understanding of new concepts about space, time, matter, and light can have a profound impact on the way we visualize and interact with the world around us. We are interested in this research personally, artistically and as a medium for positive social change.

Interactive Installation

In collaboration with visual artist/coder Marcel Schwittlick, we will produce an indoor installation that combines interactive components and projection art (see xtrees). In this piece I will explore my own experiences as a 1st generation Cuban, through the lens of particle physics.

Education

In collaboration with Austrian artist/Tagtool app developer, Markus Dorninger we will offer a 3-day Projecting pARTicles youth workshop in Havana with eight high school students. Students in the Projecting pARTicles workshop will have the unique experience of an art/science exploration. Using iPads and the Tagtool App students create physics-inspired projection art and together we will engage the public in a series of projection interventions in the streets of Havana for the opening event.

Youth Mentorship

In collaboration with the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I will teach a course called International Practicum: Havana Biennial, which will allow four graduate students to become part of this project and event. They will assist me in Havana with photo/video documentation, the youth workshop and the projection interventions on opening night. Malu Velara will lead the photo/video documentation.

Research
In preparation for this work, I have been invited to collaborate with Dr. Steve Goldfarb, physicist and educational outreach coordinator, at the ATLAS Experiment@CERN physics laboratory in Geneva. I will participate in a 2-week research stay in March 2015, which will inform and inspire the pARTicles series and the interactive design of the art installation.

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