Chris Austin, the University biologist who discovered the world’s smallest vertebrate in January, will headline the Department of Theatre’s “Creatures: Great and Small” event tonight.
The presentation is this semester’s SciArt Conversation, held at 7 p.m. in room 125 of the Music and Dramatic Arts Building.
Christine Mitchell, who organized the 25th Annual International Exhibition on Animals in Art, will join Austin at the presentation to discuss the highlights of the exhibit.
Raina Wirta, a sculptural artist, will conclude the evening’s proceedings with a discussion about how the natural world inspires her work.
Kristen Sosnowsky, chairwoman of the Theatre Department, said the University’s ongoing SciArt Conversation series was born out of a science and the arts conference she and co-founder Vince LiCata attended at the City University of New York in 2010.
Sosnowsky said the format of the discussion, topics discussed and even the name of the event are intended to encourage interdisciplinary dialog.
“Some places call their SciArts ‘cafes.’ We call ours a conversation series because we want to get people talking,” Sosnowsky said.
LiCata said that the format for the event is more relaxed than either a scientific lecture or a formal play.
“We would like it to be a workshop, but not exactly,” LiCata said. “It is something that you will listen to for a few minutes and then ask a question.”
In past SciArt Conversations, the components of the presentation were linked only in name, Sosnowsky said. Last fall’s “Silk” conversation featured acrobats who choreographically climbed and entwined themselves in silk and a lecture from a University expert on spider silk.
At this conversation, attendees will not have to stretch far to see how the scientific topics of conversation connect to art. Wirta will create art inspired by the discussions at the event, Sosnowsky said.
Sosnowsky said LiCata is an example of the convergence of science and the arts within the University faculty.
LiCata, a biological sciences professor, has been a longtime supporter of the Theatre Department. He co-wrote the 2007 Swine Palace production “Cocktail” and said that since coming to the University he has collaborated on several theatrical productions with a science focus.
“LSU has turned out to be a little hotbed for people who want to see science in the arts and vice-versa,” LiCata said.
Sosnowsky said she and the other organizers have not chosen a theme for the next presentation. Topics they have contemplated range from a study of the multi-disciplined work of Leonardo Da Vinci or the analysis of science’s role in film, she said.
 
 
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Contact Paul Braun at [email protected]