The Centre for Modern Thought

Just a quick heads-up that the room for our seminar this week is 028 MacRobert. See you there!

Some of you are actively interested in the History of Science and, more concretely, in the History of Experimental Science. I have good news for you. I recently found the Journal of Visualized Experiments, a website with loads of micro-documentaries on real experiments and laboratory methodology.

I would dare to say that its approach to scientific publishing is completely new, and JoVE is the first Journal of its kind in Pubmed. They expressed their ideas much better than me. I quote directly from their website: Read more ...

We have two very exciting events this coming Monday — a talk by Danielle Cohen-Levinas and, a little later in the day, a concert by Michaël Levinas. The details, in order:

Under the auspices of the Centre for Modern Thought and the Sutherland Bequest, Danielle Cohen-Levinas will give a talk on Monday 27th October 2008 at 3pm, at the Kings College Chapel:

“Levinas et Derrida: politique de l’indéconstructible”

All are welcome. From there, we’ll go to a reception at Elphinstone Hall on the University of Aberdeen campus at 5.00 pm, with refreshments. Read more ...

(Below is Oteiza’s Caja metafisica (1958).)

As a follow up to Nerea’s exciting announcement of the Oteiza workshop, I’m uploading the Word document for the workshop, including further details about the event and links to more on Oteiza.

A Two-Day Workshop on Jorge Oteiza’s Radical Thought organised by Centre for Modern Thought and Hispanic Studies

Jorge Oteiza (1908–2003) is one of the key Spanish artists of the 20th century. His theoretical writings explore the connections between art and life ⎯more specifically the spiritual dimension of art and the political role of the artist. A few years before the publication of his most influential text “Quousque tandem…!” (1963) Oteiza had already decided to cease creating rather than to repeatedly reproduce what he considered to be the formal conclusion of his artistic experimentation, the work which had won him the top prize for sculpture in the 1957 Sao Paolo Biennial. Read more ...

I’ve put up the new page for our fall ‘08 seminar (Thursdays, 3.30-5.30, location TBA). Check it out for a description of the class and outline of the coming weeks.

A picture from a visit made by some of the Centre’s faculty to Ferran Adrià’s restaurant El Bulli.

We’re anticipating the visit in July of Ferran Adrià, the renowned chef whose work, associated by many with molecular gastronomy, he himself considers “deconstructive” — a cuisine that he brought to the Documenta art festival last year.
This story page is a place to collect links to introduce his work and prepare for his visit.
A long study of Adrià’s work in The Guardian
An article on the controversy around Documenta in The Independent
The site for Adrià’s Roses restaurant, El Bulli

(The following is the text of an invitation to the first of the Centre for Modern Thought's "Energy Seminars," on 18 September 2008. The seminar, which draws inspiration partially from the Shell scenarios, featuring James Smith (Chairman at Shell UK) and other panelists to be announced.) Read more ...