Join this event including a performance followed by a panel discussion as part of Operation Biodegradable exhibition.
Join this event including a performance followed by a panel discussion to hear from researchers at the University of Edinburgh, joined by researchers at Lancaster University exploring embodiment, materialism and technology, as part of Operation Biodegradable exhibition, for the 2025 Edinburgh Science Festival.
This performance is a collaboration between several artists led by Theodore Koterwas and will be based on interactions with an AI within a physical environment. The set has adapted a system developed by Joseph Lindley and Roger Whitham who originally used it for Shadowplay, an interactive installation playing with Shadows and AI.
The panel discussion will invite researchers and key members of the exhibition to create an open and expansive dialogue around the exhibition themes, inviting audiences to ask questions and share their own comments observations.
Event Details
Date: Tue 22 April 2025
Time: 18:00 – 20:00 | Free/Ticketed (Doors Open 5:30pm)
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, Newington, Edinburgh EH8 9AB
*Please register your ticket for the Performance and Panel Discussion Event. The exhibition is open to drop-in.
Performers and Speakers
Theodore Koterwas (performer and speaker) is an artist, designer and musician is an artist working with data, physical phenomena and the human body to make things resonate. He seeks to draw critical attention to aspects of daily experience that go unnoticed but profoundly impact on how we understand each other, technology and the environment. His multidisciplinary practice produces art installations, performances, museum exhibitions, and software applications for public engagement, creative collaboration, and teaching and learning.
Ruby Marshall (performer and speaker) is an artist, designer and musician is a Lecturer in Soft Robotics at Design Informatics. Her research focuses on actuated textile design and function, looking at how physical properties can be varied and tuned to produce a desired system output. Although trained and qualified as an Aero-Mechanical engineer Ruby’s interests lie in soft robotics for human well-being with a view to exploring and creating novel, biological and eco-friendly robotics.
Beth Davidson (performer) is an artist, designer and musician is an interdisciplinary designer and 2024 graduate from MA in Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Through this course and concurrent research opportunities she has moved away from fashion to focus on social design. Her research interests include embodied interaction, soma design, co-design, and disability studies. Beth comes to the domain of human computer interaction with a critical and conceptual lens which explores how the body is represented and utilised in design methods.
Mark Hughes (speaker) is consultant neurosurgeon and honorary senior lecturer. He underwent neurosurgical training in London, Edinburgh, New York, and Leeds – and completed a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD en route. His subspecialist work focuses on pituitary tumours and anterior skull base neurosurgery.
Roger Whitham is a designer, researcher and educator based at ImaginationLancaster, Lancaster University. His research centres on collaborative interactions that span distinct contexts, technologies, sectors and scales; explored through co-design, tools and visualisation.
About the Exhibition
Discover how biomaterials and human-centred design could revolutionise surgical environments at this exhibition brought to you by staff, students and graduates at the University of Edinburgh. Showcasing a range of artwork, artefacts and prototypes, it offers a hands-on opportunity to engage with and understand the challenges and potential solutions in designing an operating theatre that better supports surgeons and the environment.
About Inspace:
Inspace is part of the Institute for Design Informatics and is a collaborative hub, commissioning and producing creative activity. Our public programme connects data, research and creative talent. We host events and exhibitions where people can explore, learn, debate and create. Our programme unlocks digital technologies, tools and data and explores their role in society through a creative lens. We are home to Inspace City Screens, a unique seven screen street front projection space visible from Potterrow in Edinburgh.