Emergence: How Can Art and Synthetic Biology Help Build More Just Futures?
Featuring Ahmed Best and Dr. Yewande Pearse in Conversation
Moderated by Jason E.C. Wright
Sunday, December 6, 2–4 PM
Rep Club, 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016
“A just future is not the inevitable outcome of technological progress but the result of deliberate choices we must make about how we relate to life itself, both human and nonhuman.”
Synthetic biology is science—yet like art, it interrogates concepts and ideals that exceed its own disciplinary boundaries, spilling into our lived realities. What is life? What is consciousness? Where does the natural end and the synthetic begin? And who gets to shape the futures we are engineering? Art wrestles with these questions too, offering different tools and ways of knowing. But most art–science collaboration still tells a familiar story: Scientists explain, artists interpret.
Emergence enables a deeper conversation between synthetic biology and art, grounded in real-world happenings. The ten-volume catalog documents the exhibition of the same name, curated by Fathomers and presented as part of Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide in 2024. Beyond simple translation or illustration, Emergence facilitates a true exchange among artists, scientists, and artist-scientists. As coeditor Dr. Yewande Pearse writes, “A just future is not the inevitable outcome of technological progress but the result of deliberate choices we must make about how we relate to life itself, both human and nonhuman.”
Join us for an afternoon featuring neuroscientist, science communicator, and Emergence catalog coeditor Dr. Yewande Pearse in conversation with multihyphenate artist, educator, and AfroRithm Futures Group cofounder Ahmed Best, whose work with the group was presented in Emergence. Moderated by Jason E.C. Wright of Burntsienna Research Society, the conversation will build on Pearse’s catalog essay to explore decolonial turns in science and science communications as well as the role of Afrofuturism in creating the futures we want to live in.
Hot tea and snacks will be served. In celebration of the holiday season, we encourage you to come ready to shop around Rep Club’s incredible inventory!
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
Ahmed Best, a cofounder of the AfroRithm Futures Group, is a multihyphenate artist, educator, podcaster, and futurist, as well as an award-winning actor, director, writer, producer, musician, and choreographer. Best is a senior fellow at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and teaches at the USC School of Dramatic Arts and Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Dr. Yewande Pearse is driven by the belief that science has the power to connect people and communities. A neuroscientist with over fifteen years of research experience at King’s College London and Harbor-UCLA, she translates science as an advisor, speaker, writer, and media contributor. Formerly an Account Supervisor at Stellate Communications, Dr. Pearse helped academic researchers and non-profits communicate their discoveries and create meaningful impact. She has brought science storytelling to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Sundance Film Festival, the LA Phil, Headspace, TEDMED, Science Gallery, and dublab Radio. She directed science editorial and content for Emergence and coedited its exhibition catalog. She works as a science consultant and has also served as an advisor to the California Science Center.
Jason E.C. Wright is an art book collector, educator, and design philosopher. He is the founder and director of Burntsienna Research Society, an independent library and visual research institute exploring the intersections of art books and design philosophies, cultural literacy and preservation. Wright has taught at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and Otis College of Art and Design; moderated conversations at AIGA, the Los Angeles Design Festival, and MOCA, Los Angeles; and served on the board of the Los Angeles Design Festival. Burntsienna Research Society has facilitated programming for Arcana: Books on the Arts, Berluti, The Huntington, the LINE LA, Soho Warehouse, and more.