The Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM) at Yale announces the Spring 2024 Ultra Space Symposium: Adaptation/s, April 4 and 5. The events and exhibition, inspired by Arakawa+Gins, feature the opening of ISOVIST—CCAM’s new gallery, and Artificial Life specialist Takashi Ikegami.
Can architecture help you live forever?Arakawa and Gins’ experimental architecture and Takashi Ikegami’s intricate systems remind us that form and function, space and perception, are not just an art, but a science of living.
Can we use our body to see?At any given point while inside the Mitaka Lofts in Tokyo, designed by Arakawa and Gins, one can see a minimum of six colors. This system of colors is not complex, nor does it offer a coherent pattern—it creates an offering for the senses.Symposium speakers include: Momoyo Homma (Arakawa+Gins Tokyo Office), Takashi Ikegami (University of Tokyo), and Habib Zargarpour (Bladerunner 2049). The grand opening of ISOVIST—CCAM’s new gallery—will include works by Refik Anadol, Yale student artists, and others. Konrad Kaczmarek will give a live performance of his Studies in Automation: Guitar Quartet.
Science Fiction?Arakawa and Gins believed that undiscovered senses lay hidden within us, and they aspired to unlock them through the design of spaces and objects tailored to engage and awaken these latent sensory experiences. Today, Takashi Ikegami of the University of Tokyo, a renowned researcher investigating Artificial Life, explores how systems, whether biological or artificial, adapt to objects, environments, and spaces. Academy-nominated visual effects supervisor Habib Zargarpour blends technical expertise with imagination, pushing the boundaries of cinema.
The Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM) at Yale is an interdisciplinary art and technology center. CCAM is part of the cultural landscape at Yale that includes other major institutions such as the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art. CCAM is also home to an interdisciplinary Curriculum in Residence, sponsoring classes from art and architecture to public health. A staging ground for faculty and students to experiment, CCAM starts with creativity to advance projects and research, forming an archipelago of interdisciplinary labs within an art-forward setting.
Schedule
Thursday, April 4April 46:00-7:00pmWelcome
April 46:30–7:00pmStudies in Automation: Guitar Quartet by Konrad KaczmarekApril 47:00pm-8:00pmGallery/Exhibition Opening/Reception
Friday, April 59:30-10amCoffee
April 510:00am–12:30pmCall for Papers Presentations
April 512:30pm–1:30pmLunch
April 51:30pm–3:00pmLiving Forever in the Arakawa+Gins Reversible Destiny LoftsCan architecture help you live forever? Arakawa and Gins’ Reversible Destiny Lofts—Mitaka (In Memory of Helen Keller) explore this question in the context of modern apartment living in Tokyo. Hear how artists, architects, and curators have encountered this multisensory experience—and imagine how you would, too.
Momoyo Homma, Director, Reversible Destiny Foundation and Arakawa+Gins Tokyo office
Takashi Ikegami, Director, Takashi Ikegami Lab + Professor, University of Tokyo
Dana Karwas, CCAM Director, Critic, Yale School of Architecture
ST Luk, Projects Manager, Reversible Destiny Foundation
Harshita Nedunuri, Transdisciplinary Designer + Researcher, CCAM Ultra Space Research Fellow
Koichi Tsutsui, Lead Architect, Mitaka Lofts
April 5
3:00pm–4:30pmHuman-Like with Takashi IkegamiEnter the mind of complexity scientist Takashi Ikegami. His University of Tokyo lab explores the possibility of Artificial Life being “larger than biological life.” What can we learn from a human-like robot pretending to be a snake?
Takashi Ikegami, Director, Takashi Ikegami Lab + Professor, University of Tokyo
April 5
4:30–6:00pmBladerunner 2049: Effecting the Future with Habib Zargarpour and Setareh SamandariAcademy-nominated VFX supervisor Habib Zargarpour will conclude the Spring 2024 CCAM Ultra Space Symposium. A live demo by Habib, together with director/VFX artist Setareh Samandari, will feature the latest VFX techniques and processes. Not to be missed!
Habib Zargarpour, Visual Effects Artist, Bladerunner 2049 Setareh
Samandari, Director + Visual Effects Artist
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The symposium is free and open to the public. All events will take place at CCAM (149 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511). No advance registration is required. Seating will be first-come, first-served, and room capacity limits will apply.