[SNEC] Symposium on Synergetics and Morphology; Providence, RI; Nov 3-4

[CJ Fearnley]

  Who:
    The Synergetics Collaborative (SNEC) in collaboration with
    the Philomorphs and The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at
    the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

  What:
    Presenting our Fourth Symposium on
    * * *          Synergetics and Morphology:         * * *
    * * *    Explorations into the Shapes of Nature    * * *

    The Synergetics Collaborative has teamed with the Philomorphs
    and The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab to present a two-day symposium on
    "Synergetics and Morphology: Explorations into the Shapes of Nature"
    at the RISD Auditorium on 2-4 Nov 2007. In addition to presenting
    an engaging program around the intriguing concept of "the Form of
    Nature", the event will include a reception on Friday 2 November
    and a dance performance on Saturday 3 November. The event will also
    feature an art exhibit on "Synergetics and Morphology" with the work
    of participants on display at the nearby Waterman Gallery and in
    the Nature Lab. The Arthur Loeb Design Science Teaching Collection,
    which now resides with the Nature Lab, will be highlighted during the
    event. The event will continue our efforts to build upon Buckminster
    Fuller's Synergetics legacy. It will also offer a reunion for
    Philomorphs.  Finally, it will provide an opportunity to discuss
    and share diverse viewpoints among the Synergetics community, the
    Philomorphs, the RISD student and faculty communities, and other
    explorers of Form aboard SpaceShip Earth.

    The symposium will appeal to a broad range of individuals who
    share a common interest in Morphology (the Art and Science of Form:
    Goethe is reported to be the first to study and define morphology),
    including artists, designers, naturalists, geometers, mathematicians,
    scientists, educators and students.

  When:
    A Reception will be held on Friday, 2 November 2007 from 7PM - 9PM
    Saturday 3 November 2007, 8AM - 5PM (Symposium), 8PM - 10PM (Performance)
    Sunday   4 November 2007, 8AM - 5PM (Symposium)

  Where:
    Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Auditorium
    17 Canal Street (Canal Walkway at Market Square)
    Providence, RI 02906

  Travel Directions:
    http://synergeticists.org/risd.directions.html

  Registration:
    The registration fee is $125 (includes lunch tickets for Sat & Sun,
    and the performance on Sat evening); $30 for students. RISD students
    enter at no charge but registration is required.  Registrations
    received after 15 October will be subject to a $25 late processing
    fee.  At the door registrations will be subject to a $50 surcharge.

    Please fill out the on-line registration form at
    http://synergeticists.org/symposium.registration.html

    Please mail checks to Synergetics Collaborative; 240 Copley Road;
    Upper Darby, PA 19082-4016.

    Call 610-352-7086 if you have any registration questions.

  Art Show:
    There will be space in the Waterman Gallery and The Edna Lawrence
    Nature Lab for exhibiting 2-D and 3-D pieces.  Please request space
    by sending a note about your pieces including their dimensions
    to curator at synergeticists.org.  Unless the pieces are large, we
    hope to accept some submissions from all interested participants.
    If the space available is exceeded by the early submissions, we
    will need to select among a limited number of the larger pieces in a
    jurried process.  Please request space by 30 September to allow time
    for the jury to notify participants about which pieces can be shown.

  Poster Papers:
    There will be limited space for some participants to contribute Poster
    Papers.  Please send requests to present a Poster Paper to
    papers at synergeticists.org.

  Event Poster:
    Please let others know about this event by passing on this poster:
    Synergetics and Morphology Flyer:
    http://synergeticists.org/snec.2007.11.A.pdf

  Symposium Home Page:
    http://synergeticists.org/snec.announce.meeting.2007.11.html

  International Participants:
    Information for international participants is at
    http://synergeticists.org/international.html

  About The Sponsors:
    * Synergetics Collaborative (SNEC) was founded in 2002 as an
      organization to bring together a diverse group of people with
      an interest in Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics in face-to-face
      workshops, symposia, seminars, and other meetings to educate
      and support research and understanding of the many facets of
      Synergetics, its methods and principles.

      Visit the Synergetics Collaborative on-line.
      http://synergeticists.org/

    * Philomorphs, the "lovers of form", is an ad hoc group founded by
      Cyril Stanley Smith, Steven J. Gould, and Arthur Loeb, to provide
      a forum for those interested in form to share ideas in process or
      new thinking with other interested parties. Two memorable examples
      of presentations were: the structure and behavior of clusters of
      soap bubbles by Cyril Smith or the structural jumps in changes of
      snail evolution by Steven Gould. For many years, the Philomorphs
      were hosted by Arthur Loeb in his studio in Sever Hall and then in
      the Carpenter Center at Harvard University. The following quote
      by Cyril Stanley Smith in 1979 exemplifies the main thinking of
      the Philomorphs: "There seems to be emerging a new philosophy of
      structural hierarchy applicable to change biological, intellectual,
      esthetic or social." Philomorphs has been in hiatus for several
      years. We hope the event on "Synergetics and Morphology" will
      provide a reunion for Philomorphs' participants to rekindle their
      passion for discussing their work on Form.

    * The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design
      uniquely integrates a natural history collection, a lending
      library of natural specimens and a studio environment. With its
      growing collection of more than 80,000 natural history objects,
      books, visual resources, microscopes and a digital work station,
      the Nature Lab serves as an invaluable research facility for the
      RISD community. In 2003, The Nature Lab accepted the Arthur Loeb
      Design Teaching Collection. This hands-on collection of hundreds of
      three-dimensional polygons and two-dimensional patterns inspires
      students and faculty to examine nature's fundamental responses to
      design problems.

      Visit the Nature Lab online.
      http://www.risd.edu/nature.cfm

-- 
We are on a spaceship; a beautiful one.  It took billions of years to develop.
We're not going to get another.  Now, how do we make this spaceship work?
  -- Buckminster Fuller

CJ Fearnley                |  Explorer in Universe
cjf at CJFearnley.com         |  Design Science Revolutionary
http://www.CJFearnley.com  |  "Dare to be Naive" -- Bucky Fuller