Book Launch - D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's Generative Influences

  • Jarron, M. (Presenter)
  • Ellen K Levy (Presenter)
  • Charissa N. Terranova (Presenter)

    Activity: Other activity typesPublic engagement and outreach - public lecture/debate/seminar

    Description

    Book Launch: D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's Generative Influences in Art, Design, and Architecture - From Forces to Forms

    Hosted by the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum, University of Dundee in collaboration with editors Ellen K Levy and Charissa N Terranova

    Scottish zoologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's visionary ideas in On Growth and Form continue to evolve a century after its publication, aligning it with current developments in art and science. In this new book published by Bloomsbury, practitioners, theorists and historians from art, science and design reflect on his ongoing influence. Overall, the anthology links evolutionary theory to form generation in both scientific and cultural domains. It offers a close look at the ways cells, organisms, and rules become generative in fields often otherwise disconnected.

    United by Thompson's original exploration of how physical forces propel and shape living and nonliving forms, essays in the book range from art, art history and neuroscience to architecture, design and biology. Contributors explore how translations are made from the discipline of biology to the cultural arena. They reflect on how Thompson's study relates to the current sciences of epigenesis, self-organization, biological complex systems and the expanded evolutionary synthesis. Cross-disciplinary contributors explore the wide-ranging aesthetic ramifications of these sciences. A timeline links the history of evolutionary theory with cultural achievements, providing the reader with a valuable resource.

    The online launch event featured illustrated presentations by the book’s editors, Ellen K Levy (Artist and Independent Scholar, USA) and Charissa N Terranova (University of Texas at Dallas, USA)

    Many of the other authors were also present to give brief introductions to their chapters, followed by a general discussion.

    The event was recorded for archival purposes but for copyright reasons the recording was not reproduced online or made publicly available after the event. The event took place on Zoom.
    Period26 Mar 2021
    Event titleBook Launch - D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's Generative Influences
    Event typeOther
    LocationDundee, United KingdomShow on map