We will have a presentation by Dan Goods, a unique artist who works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He has recently completed a public commission for the San jose Airport consisting of hanging sheets of smart glass that can be controlled to be transparent or opaque. iIs quite spectacular: http://uebersee.us/projects/ecloud
and his website is http://directedplay.com/
Monday, October 18 5:30 pm
Location: Engineering Science Building, room 2001 - The new engineering building on Mesa Road between parking lots 10 and 11 at the entrance of campus. Walk up the stairs.
abstract:
I will share a bit about my unusual journey. During the day I am the Visual Strategist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. There I develop ways of communicating in various ways. Sometimes this is done through art pieces that go to public space. These pieces give a sense of what NASA is working on, but in locations that one might not expect to be exposed to NASA. Other times it is by creating creative spaces at JPL for brainstorming new mission concepts. I am also involved in helping to win new missions by helping teams clarify what they are proposing in succinct and meaning ways.
When I am not at JPL I try to be involved in interesting projects. Recently I was on a team commissioned to create an artwork for a new airport terminal in San Jose. It is a 108ft data driven sculpture called the eCLOUD. In addition, I co-curated a show called DATA + ART: Art and Science in the Age of Information at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. There we put together a cross section of people working in the data collecting, expressing, and archiving realms.
bio:
Growing up I was never interested in art and I still cannot draw. In high school I never applied myself because I had no passion to drive me. After a chance conversation, I found myself going to an art school in Seattle and then eventually to ArtCenter College of Design where I found my passion to create meaningful experiences for people. I studied Graphic Design and ironically became Valedictorian. Now I work with world class scientists and engineers and am treated as a peer. It has been a strange and exciting journey.