CALL FOR WORKS – Oscillator@Science Gallery at Trinity College

Exhibition 7 February – 14 April 2013

OSCILLATOR is a curated exhibition exploring the vibrant vibratory world of oscillators, oscillations, and feedback. This diverse, interactive show will feature installations and demonstrations ranging from cyclical chemical reactions and swinging bridges to out of control automated pricing schemes and el Niño.
Science Gallery is calling for proposals from electron wizards, mega-nano-nauts, chemical visionaries, code infinitizers, pendular kineticists, sleep cycle sleuths, and feedback fetishists interested in oscillatory explorations from many different fields and genres, including chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth sciences, biology, mechanics, neurology, mathematics, logic, and the arts.

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW:

Oscillators are ubiquitous, both in human-made systems and in physical, biological, and informational processes. They arise, either by design or by accident, in the presence of interconnected parts and feedback paths. Sometimes they’re a critical component, essential to the correct function of a system, other times they might be a curiosity or a nuisance, or even a catastrophic force. The exhibition will use the idea of the oscillator to bring together a brain-shaking array of experiments, interactive activities, and artworks.

Potential oscillations include:

self-oscillating chemical systems like the color/pattern generating Belousov-Zhabotinksii reaction and the mercury beating heart

biological oscillators like the ubiquitous circadian rhythms found in nearly all lifeforms, the electric fields created by the ghost knifefish to aid in navigation and communication, the great synchronized choruses of various amphibians, and the complex rhythmic patterns found in human brainwaves

oscillatory physical phenomena like the chaotic motions of coupled and multiply articulated pendulums, the marvels of self-assembling nano materials, and disastrous sympathetic resonance in bridges, and buildings

geophysical phenomena like el Niño and other weather patterns, continental drift, and cyclical eruptions in geysers and volcanoes

math/logic/CS procedures and techniques for creating and probing oscillations, like digital waveform generation, logical games, brain teasers and tautologies, and pseudo random number generators

repetitive and oscillating systems used in music, dance, and the visual arts, like guitar feedback, pattern music, cyclical dance forms, and tiling patterns

cultural feedback and oscillations like memes, fads, and sampling and reuse

Register your interest on the Science Gallery Open Call website.
http://sciencegallery.com/oscillator

Call closes 12 October 2012