You are invited to a Reading Discussion and Sketch Session that will take place at the Georgia Tech Library on April 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Scholars Event Network Theater, located on the first floor of Price Gilbert. Our Artist-in-Residence, Tristan Al-Haddad, will lead a workshop exploring the intersection of art and science through responding to sections of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World Systems through drawing.

During this workshop, you will have the opportunity to delve into the fascinating ideas of Galileo and respond to them creatively through drawing. Our Artist-in-Residence will guide you through the process and help you explore the themes and concepts of the text in an artistic way.

All participants in the workshop are encouraged to purchase their own copy of the text in order to make notes and use the physical book as a space for exploration and discovery. Each participant should read ‘The First Day’ of the text (section one of four), as this will be the territory for drawing exploration.

Whether you are an artist, a scientist, or simply interested in exploring the intersection of the two fields, this workshop is the perfect opportunity for you to engage with Galileo's ideas in a new and creative way.

We hope you can join us for this exciting event.

Get calendar invites to this and other Library Artist-in-Residence workshops by joining our Artist-in-Residence Teams group.

To learn more about Al-Haddad and his RAW AIR project, visit https://www.library.gatech.edu/AIR.

ABOUT TRISTAN AL-HADDAD

Tristan Al-Haddad is a multi-medium designer and visual artist in addition to previously holding the position of assistant professor in the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech. He leads Atlanta-based Formations Studio. 

Al-Haddad’s work has been exhibited in venues including the Pompidou Center, The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Boston Center for the Arts, The International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and The AIA’s Center for Architecture in New York, as well as being published in print sources including the New York Times, Dwell, Metropolis, Art Papers and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Al-Haddad was one of seven recipients of the ARTADIA Artist Award in 2009 in addition to being a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria in Valparaiso, Chile. In 2014 Al-Haddad was selected by the US Department of State to represent the United States at the Colombo Art Biennale in Sri Lanka. He has large scale permanent sculptures located throughout the United States. 

ABOUT GERRY CHEN

Gerry Chen is a PhD student at Georgia Tech, where he studies artist-robot collaboration to understand how robots can superpower artists and how art can drive technology. Growing up, Chen had a passion for science and technology and was inspired to pursue a career in robotics by a 2006 documentary about self-driving cars (DARPA grand challenge).

During his undergraduate time at Duke, he double majored in engineering and minored in computer science and math, culminating in breaking two Guinness World Records for vehicle fuel efficiency as a leader of the Duke Electric Vehicles team.

Chen continued his studies at Georgia Tech's Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM) PhD program in the School of Interactive Computing under Professors Frank Dellaert and Seth Hutchinson. He authored several publications in the fields of robot art, optimal control, and agricultural robotics, evidencing that learnings in the field of robot art can readily transfer to other applications. Chen’s thesis on human-robot collaboration in the art domain is a key step in his longer-term ambitions to make personalized robots accessible for everyone.

Through technological innovations, robot literacy, and open discourse, Chen dreams of a world where, instead of feeling fearful of robots stealing jobs, we can all feel empowered by the potential they have to help each and every one of us.

ABOUT THE GEORGIA TECH LIBRARY ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

The Georgia Tech Library Artist-in-Residence program enhances and expands the current educational experience through arts-based programming as it relates to STEM fields and Georgia Tech areas of study. A visiting artist engages the Georgia Tech community in an artistic and aesthetic exploration of the role of the libraries in society, and the Artist-in-Residence program supports the mission of the Library through arts-based programming and engagement as a core responsibility of the artist-in-residence.

World-renowned multimedia visionary Deanna Sirlin was the inaugural 2022 Library Artist-in-Residence. Her piece, Watermark, is on display on the ground floor of Crosland Tower.

Watermark addresses the most important issue of the 21st century -- climate change -- through color, transparency and composition, and it is influenced by the exhibition “50 Years of Science Fiction at Georgia Tech.”