At Hallwalls, UB's Science and Art Cabaret Takes on the NanoWorld

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Artists, scientists and the general public are invited to "Illuminating Nano," an evening of discussion on the subject of how light interacts with the nano-scale world, and how those interactions inform both science and art.

It will take place on Nov. 3 from 7-9 p.m. in Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in the Ninth Ward at Asbury Hall, 341 Delaware Ave.

Admission is free and open to the public; a cash bar will be available.

"Illuminating Nano" is the third Science and Art Cabaret sponsored by the University at Buffalo.

At the event, a panel of artists and scientists from UB and the Buffalo Museum of Science will discuss how light interacts with nano-scale materials, causing beautiful, strange and ultimately useful effects.

"Have you ever wondered how nanostructures in butterfly wings create colors? What makes graphene so special that it deserved the Nobel Prize? What is the potential of nano-science for biology and medicine?," asks biophysicist Arnd Pralle, UB assistant professor in physics and cabaret co-organizer.

The public is invited to come to the Science and Art Cabaret to explore these questions, Pralle says, and hear top university researchers and artists discuss nano-science and how it inspires both scientific progress and artistic creativity.

In addition to Pralle, the panel includes UB's College of Arts and Sciences faculty member Sambandamurthy Ganapathy, a nano-physicist and assistant professor of physics; Douglas Borzynski from the Buffalo Museum of Science; Peter D'Auria and Andrea Mancuso, the visual-artists team known as virocode; and Moshe Shulman, composer, musician and UB graduate student.

Following the official program, attendees will be able to visit the gallery where virocode's video installation can be seen; it features a video interpretation of how water drops disperse. Attendees also will be able to participate in their own science/art project, using nanoparticles to create a stained glass window, which will be permanently located in the Physics and Art Exhibition on the UB North Campus.

For more information, go to http://www.hallwalls.org/visual/4909.html, or contact Pralle at 645-3069.

The Science and Art Cabaret is part of the Café Scientifique movement that has swept the U.S. and Europe; for more information about the movement, go to http://www.cafescientifique.org/north%20america-links.htm and http://www.sciencecafes.org/.

Buffalo's Science and Art Caberet was created by UB's physicists and visual artists who have collaborated on such successes as the UB Physics and Arts Summer Institute and the permanent "Physics and Arts Exhibition" at UB.