Seminar 1: Inner Space & Outer Space

Speaker: Dr. Rajesh Kasturirangan (Faculty at NIAS) Seminar Date: September 5th, 2009 Venue: CEMA Campus, Srishti College of Art, Design & Technology Time: 3.30- 6.30 p.m.

Inner Space & Outer Space: What is space? This question has exercised some of the greatest scientific, artistic and philosophical minds in history. While we live our lives in various found and built spaces, space itself remains the most elusive of substances. The way we build artifacts is often guided by our tacit beliefs about the nature of space. Is space 'out there', as physicists would have us believe, an invariant material background against which we live out our lives? Is it a construction of our minds? Different people have different intuitions about the nature of space. These differing intuitions lead to radically different artistic, scientific and technological agendas.

Respondents: Prem Chandavarkar (Architect) & Dr. Jyoti Argade (Performance Scholar/ Producer) Moderator: Ampat Varghese (Faculty at Srishti) Talk Draft/ Synopsis: Inner space and Outer space Video of Seminar Proceedings: http://vimeo.com/7246126 Transcription of Video: Inner Space and Outer Space

About the Speaker

Dr Rajesh Kasturirangan is an associate professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). He received a PhD in Cognitive Science at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT. His research interests are in Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind. His current work relates to applying a combination of philosophical argument,

mathematical techniques and empirical observations to classical problems in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Mind, such as the semantics of natural languages, the epistemology of beliefs, the structure of intentionality and consciousness.

About the Respondents

Prem Chandavarkar is an architect, and received his training in architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi (B.Arch, 1978) and at the University of Oregon, USA (M.Arch, 1982). He is the Managing Director of Chandavarkar & Thacker Architects Pvt. Ltd. a Bangalore-based architectural design practice. He is a former Executive Director of Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, and is currently one of their visiting faculty. He writes and lectures on architecture, art, urbanism, cultural studies and education, and has published several essays, and presented papers at national and international conferences.

Dr Jyoti Argade is a scholar, dancer, arts manager and producer of performance. She recently completed her PhD in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, Chicago. Her scholarship has been presented at Harvard Universitys Center for Ethnic Studies, the British Association of South Asian Studies, the Center for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism in Surrey, England, Women in the Directors Chair, the American Studies Association, City College of New York and the Pune Institute of Management and Research where she is now a Teaching Fellow. At present, she is in Bangalore, India on a William J. Fulbright Fellowship from the United States government, choreographing, producing and teaching Indian classical dance to blind dancers in Bangalore.

About the Moderator

A.V. Varghese worked as a media professional for 20 years, beginning in All-India Radio as a radio jockey and producer 1977-1979 and then moving into print media. His long stint as senior editor, special correspondent and chief of news services was combined with teaching mass communications and media-related subjects as guest lecturer in various institutions. In 1999, he joined the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, where he is now Academic Dean of the Professional Diploma Programs. His focus is on New Media.