Live Culture 60:
Outside the Box
March 28 , 2020 from 11-12 noon
Listen on WPKN 89.5 FM, at WPKN.org
and as a podcast on Soundcloud.
My first guests this month on Live Culture will be with the science team behind the SpinWheel, a group of volunteers at Yale University with a passion for teaching science and building beautiful things. I will be in conversation with members of the team which includes Stefan, Emily, Elise, Bridget, Sam, Jenna and Becky who all work under the umbrella of Yale’s Society of Women Engineers, leading hands-on outreach events with hundreds of K-12 students each year.
What is a SpinWheel? It is a small programmable, sensor-enabled trinket, facilitating student exploration of Physics and Computer Science. It may be worn as jewelry, sported as a keychain, or used as a compass. SpinWheels come with a Science and Exploration Field Guide containing multiple educational and artistic activities. individuals will be able to program the SpinWheel, creating a unique, science-infused piece of art. The underlying goal is to use artistic expression as a vector through which to teach Physics and Computer Science and excite and embolden people who otherwise would have self-selected out of STEM. The lessons span everything from color theory and physics of vision, to physical computing, programming, and kinematics. This also includes an "Engineer's Diary" with a detailed description of the work that went behind creating the entire project, both engineering and social/entrepreneurial, in the hope to make people more comfortable pursuing such projects on their own. it can be programmed to be a compass, step-counter, and more.
As their slogan states: “Children have the natural curiosity and capacity to engineer a better world. Our kits just remind them.” The team is currently running a kickstarter funding campaign to allow them to start manufacturing a limited run of the devices. As manufacturing in the current moment is largely on hold, things may be challenging for them moving ahead, but the sort of do-it-yourself-contained nature of the kit makes it ideal for those trying to learn in a self-isolated setting. I will speak with them about the science behind the project, the origins of the SpinWheel itself and about the role of creativity in the sciences.
For more about the SpinWheels project please visit: https://spinwearables.com/
During the second half I will be in conversation with Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, New Haven Museum Director of Photo Archives and curator of FACTORY a multi media exhibit about the Avant-Garde historic past of the Clock Factory in New Haven. The museum was closed due to the pandemic shortly after it opened but will be up through the summer. Jason will talk us through what the museum plans to do to stay vibrant with its doors shut, and give a taste of what viewers will hopefully be able to see soon.
The New Haven Clock Factory began it’s life as the largest timepiece manufacturer in the world. In leaner times, they came for other purposes—some avant-garde, others grittier—but all in pursuit of freedom of expression or experience. “FACTORY,” documents the post-industrial, underground history of the massive building on Hamilton Street that housed visual and performance artists, punk bands, skateboarders, and a succession of music and adult-entertainment clubs in the decades following the factory’s closure. “FACTORY” will remain up through August 29, 2020.
Using original and archival video and photography and artifacts, “FACTORY” highlights some of the people, personalities and artistic endeavors once present in the building. The aim of Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, was to portray the spirit of Elm City counterculture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This important and innovative exhibit provides a model for ways of presenting the layered and ephemeral nature of the life and uses of our urban spaces.
For more information visit www.newhavenmuseum.org or Facebook.com/NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.
This show airs live Saturday from 11-12 noon and is available for two weeks on ARCHIVES and *EVER AFTER* as a PODCAST, for ON-Demand Listening.
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