Margaret Livingstone, a neurobiology professor at Harvard Medical School, lectured at KAUST's Winter Enrichment Program 2018 on how art can reveal insights into the human brain. She discussed how artists have long understood the independent roles of color and luminance in visual perception. Livingstone highlighted examples from Picasso, Monet, and Warhol to illustrate how artists manipulate visual cues. Why it matters: This interdisciplinary approach can potentially lead to new understandings of how the brain processes visual information and inform advances in both neuroscience and art.
KAUST will host a Modern Saudi Art Exhibit from Arabian Wings (Jan 11-15), an Al-Balad 24 Photography Exhibition featuring work by Marina Kochetyga and Andrea Bachofen (Jan 11-16), and an East African Tingatinga art exhibition (Jan 18-24). The Al-Balad exhibit includes a video by Dr. Lorenzo Pareschi documenting a fire in the historic district. Why it matters: These art exhibits expose the KAUST community to diverse artistic styles and cultural perspectives, fostering cross-cultural understanding.
American artist Rachel Sussman spoke at KAUST's 2019 Winter Enrichment Program about her project documenting the world's oldest living organisms. Sussman photographed 30 species alive for over 2,000 years, including trees, coral, and bacteria. She collaborated with 30 scientists to identify and document these organisms. Why it matters: The lecture highlights KAUST's interdisciplinary approach to knowledge, connecting art, science, and philosophy to explore concepts of time and longevity.
Ivan Gromicho, a scientific illustrator at KAUST, creates visual representations of complex research findings for journals like Cell, Nature, and Science. He collaborates with KAUST faculty to transform data into comprehensible illustrations. Outside of work, Gromicho pursues rock climbing, exploring natural rock formations across Saudi Arabia. Why it matters: This highlights KAUST's support for interdisciplinary pursuits and employee well-being, fostering innovation at the intersection of science and art.
KAUST held its second annual "Science as Art" competition, sponsored by the KAUST student chapter of the Materials Research Society (MRS). Over 25 KAUST students and postdoctoral fellows participated, showcasing artistic research images from their lab work. The competition aimed to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the general public by presenting science from an artistic point of view. Why it matters: Such initiatives at KAUST can foster interdisciplinary thinking and enhance public engagement with science and technology in Saudi Arabia.
KAUST's Winter Enrichment Program (WEP) 2015 features keynotes by international experts and award winners. Week 2 events include Caltech's Anthony Readhead discussing radio astronomy and Saudi Arabia's potential role, and an exhibition of Tingatinga art from East Africa. Other events cover urban science, polar expeditions, and a multimedia performance called BELLA GAIA. Why it matters: WEP promotes scientific engagement and cultural exchange within KAUST and highlights opportunities for Saudi Arabia in global research fields like radio astronomy.
KAUST computer scientist Mohamed Elhoseiny and his VISION CAIR team developed Creative Walk Adversarial Networks (CWAN) for novel art generation. CWAN learns from existing art styles and deviates using 'random walk deviation' methods. Human evaluators preferred CWAN-generated art compared to other methods like StyleGAN2. Why it matters: The research demonstrates AI's potential as a valuable tool for artists, enabling the creation of unique and meaningful art, and explores more effective emotional language in image captioning.
Artists from Switzerland collaborated with researchers at KAUST's Red Sea Research Center to photograph autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS). ARMS are artificial towers that capture small critters colonizing coral reefs, developed to measure marine biodiversity. KAUST has deployed and retrieved over 180 ARMS units since 2013 to study cryptobenthic biodiversity, which represents up to 70% of a reef's biodiversity. Why it matters: This collaboration highlights the innovative approaches being used to study marine ecosystems in the Red Sea and underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations in advancing scientific understanding.