What’s the meaning of nothing? Find out on April 24

BUFFALO, N.Y. — God, math, numbers and art.

These are some of the topics that scientists, artists and a retired pastor will discuss on April 24 at an event titled “Nothing.”

It’s the last installment of the 2012-13 season of Buffalo’s Science & Art Cabaret series, which invites the public to grab a drink and listen as artists and top university researchers discuss how a common theme relates to fields from physics to philosophy to art.

“Nothing” is the topic of the next cabaret, and the 15th cabaret held since 2009. The event will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, at the Ninth Ward at Babeville, an intimate basement club at 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

Admission is free and everyone is welcome. Guests will enjoy a cash bar.

The line-up for the night will include:

• Mathematician David Hemmer, professor and chair of mathematics at the University at Buffalo, who will speak on “The Cantor Set: When 1 – 1 ≠ 0.”
• Artist Jody Hanson, who will speak on “The near nothingness of art.”
• Poet Paul Hogan, vice president of the John R. Oishei Foundation, who will speak on “Differentiating calculations of the poetic vs. scientific mass of nothing.”
• Reverend Dave Persons, who will speak on “God, ultimate reality, being nothing.”
• Artist Alexandra P. Spaulding, whose art aims to generate ineffable experiences, who will speak on “Creating a place within nothing from which to begin.”

The Science & Art Cabaret series is a collaboration between the UB College of Arts and Sciences, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and Buffalo Museum of Science.

Part of the burgeoning worldwide Cafe Scientifique movement, the Science & Art Cabaret takes science out of the lecture hall and into informal public spaces where freewheeling discussions take place. The cabaret's home base is the Ninth Ward at Babeville in Buffalo, an intimate basement club where patrons can rub elbows with local artists and top university researchers in an interactive, casual setting.

Co-founder Will Kinney, UB associate professor of physics, describes the cabaret as "an entertaining mash-up of cutting-edge science and technology with art, music, poetry and performance." It's a tribute to the time-tested ideal that public spaces, like cafes and bars, can serve as hubs of intellectual discussion, and not just as places to engage in leisurely pursuits.

The cabaret celebrates and explores creativity in all its forms, from the quantitative to the whimsical. In the process, participants uncover surprising commonalities among diverse viewpoints, learn from each other and have a great time.

For information on the Science & Art Cabaret and past events, visit http://www.hallwalls.org/science-art.php.