We dispose of an abundance of scientific tools and technological devices to measure and monitor the entangled complexities characterizing global scale phenomena such as climate change, environmental pollution or technological saturation. But can we grasp their significance at a local, micro, and personal level? Can we develop a civic science that promotes awareness and enables communities to become active evidence-seekers and, themselves, sustainable producers?

With this first Fall-Winter ArtSci Salon event, Sylvia Adamcik and Antonio Gamba-Bari address these questions by exploring new forms of literacy through interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate science, artistic expression, and DIY and making initiatives.

Biographies

Sylvia Adamcik (b. 1981) is a new media artist who works with web and interactive elements. Recent work includes site-specific installation, field recording, media object re-appropriation and immersive exhibition environments. Sylvia recently completed her Master of Fine Arts through the Transart Institute, Plymouth University. She also holds graduate degrees in public policy and forest conservation and an undergraduate degree in history. She is currently based in Toronto, Canada. Her work is shown in private collections and online spaces worldwide. 

Antonio Gamba-Bari's research is grounded in the intersection between Science and Technology Studies (STS), cognitive science, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) towards a better understanding of Do-It- Yourself (DIY) initiatives and Maker movements as emergent literacy practices. His doctoral studies focuses on exploring how DIY microelectronics can constitute innovative forms for literacy, as they entail new forms for collecting, interpreting, sharing, and negotiating information, and how these practices are allowing people to engage creatively and critically in the construction of new forms of evidence, collaboration, and re-negotiations of meaning in their everyday life.