Workshops and Lectures

  

As part of the Crochet Coral Reef Project the IFF hosts workshops and lectures to teach the techniques of hyperbolic crochet and to introduce the project as a whole. Workshops have been held in London, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Scottsdale, Dublin, Fukuoka and many other cities. Crocheters at all levels of experience are welcome, from novices to experts. No prior crochet skill is needed, but if you are experienced you'll pick up the possibilities quickly. Workshops are conducted by IFF's reef-wranglers-in-chief, Margaret and Christine Wertheim. Events begin with a talk about the subject of hyperbolic geometry and its manifestations in the marine world. We proceed from there to learn the craft of hyperbolic crochet, originally discovered by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina. As the afternoon progresses, participants branch out from these simple seeds making models of their own and exploring the endless variations that these technique enable. Everyone is encouraged to pursue their own creative instincts and we are continually amazed at the innovations our crafters come up with.

2011 REEF WORKSHOP AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

Caltech - The Skeptics Society
 Pasadena, CA
Sunday, December 11 @ 2pm

At the Skeptic Society at Caltech Margaret Wertheim will discuss her her new book Physics on the Fringe and the thorny subject of scientific "outsiders". Book signing will follow the lecture.

Los Angeles Public Library - ALOUD 
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, November 21 @ 7pm

Physics on the Fringe: A conversation with James Carter

In this unique event at the ALOUD series at the LA Public Library, Margaret Wertheim will engage in a conversation about her new book Physics on the Fringe with its idiosyncratic hero James Carter, the Einstein of "outsider science." Book signing will follow with Wertheim and Carter.

Stevens Institute of Technology - Center for Science Writings Hoboken, NJ
Wednesday, November 16 @ 3pm
Margaret Wertheim will discuss her new book Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons and Alternative Theories of the Universe, a groundbreaking work about "outsider physics: and the role of imagination in theoretical physics.
 
Santa Monica College

, Santa Monica, CA
Tuesday, November 8 @ 11am


Physics on the Fringe

Margaret Wertheim will discuss her work as a science writer for students of Santa Monica College and surrounding community. The talk will focus on her work on the cultural history of physics, including her new book Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons and Alternative Theories of the Universe.
 
Rutgers University
 Douglass Residential College
 New Brunswick, NJ
Monday, November 14 @ 5pm
 A Life in Science 

In honor of the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Douglass Project for Rutgers Women in Math, Science and Engineering, IFF director Margaret Wertheim will present a keynote address about her life as a woman in science. Ms Wertheim will discuss her pioneering work as a science communicator over the past 30 years, culminating with the establishment of the Institute For Figuring as a new kind of venue for innovative, participatory programming about science and mathematics.
 
Center for Craft Creativity and Design
University of North Carolina Asheville - Friday, September 22 @ 7 pm

Woolly Wonder: A Yarn about Geometry, Craft, Global Warming, and Community Art Practice 

In this dual presentation IFF director Margaret Wertheim and IFF Assistant Director Anna Mayer will discuss the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. Margaret will focus on the scientific and mathematical dimensions of the project; Anna will focus on the community outreach and global Satellite Reef Program.
 
INSEARCH @ University of Technology, Sydney


The Haymarket, Sydney, Australia - Tuesday, August 23 @ 1:00 pm

Woolly Wonder: A Yarn about Geometry, Craft, Global Warming, and Community Art Practice

The first public lecture in Australia about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. Presented by Margaret Wertheim, followed by Q+A with Insearch audience and faculty.

Los Angeles, CA - The Autry Museum in Griffith Park
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011 @ 2:00 pm
Woolly Wonder: A Yarn about Geometry, Craft, Global Warming, and Community Art Practice 

The Autry has awarded Margaret and Christine the Theo Westenberger Grant for Women of Excellence. In honor of this, Margaret will discuss the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project and its interweaving of environmental issues, mathematics, and handicraft. 

Madison, Wisconsin - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date: Thursday, March 31, 2011

In a lecture sponsored by the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, the Department of Design Studies, and the Arts Institute’s Year of the Arts, Margaret will explore the natural synergies between the arts and sciences.

Washington, DC - Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
Baird Auditorium, 10th & Constitution Ave, NW
Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011 @ 4:30 pm

Margaret is joined by CORAL (Coral Reef Alliance) Director Rick MacPherson, as well as members of the Luther Place and N St Village Community in a panel discussion entitled, Stories from the Reef: Raising Awareness Through Community Projects.

San Francisco, CA - Art as a Way of Knowing, a conference organized by the Exploratorium and sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Date: March 4, 2011

Margaret, with Edith Ackermann, Dominic Willsdon, and Alva Noë, will take part in a session on art and learning focusing on recent research of cognitive scientists and educational practitioners whose work explores the way art and aesthetics encompass modes of human perception and creativity essential to achieving a wholeness and depth in learning. 

2010 REEF WORKSHOP AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

La Crosse, Wisconsin - Wisconsin Art Education Association
Date: Thursday October 28, 2010, 8:30-9:30am
Place: The La Cross Center, main Auditorium, La Cross WI.

Margaret will present a keynote address about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project and its implications for art education at the annual conference of the Wisconsin Art Educators Association. In the evening, she will conduct a hyperbolic crochet workshop at the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center (3rd floor).

Washington DC - Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
Date: Sunday September 12, 2010, 1-4pm
Place: Beard Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution Ave, Washington DC

In this workshop Margaret will discuss the process of curating and installing the Smithsonian Community Reef at the Museum.

Washington DC - Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
Date: Sunday June 13, 2010, 12noon-3pm
Place: Beard Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution Ave, Washington DC

In preparation for the IFF's forthcoming exhibition of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Margaret will lead a workshop about making hyperbolic corals. The workshop will kick-off the process of making a Smithsonian Community Reef.

Dublin, Ireland - Science Gallery, Trinity College
Date: Saturday February 21, 2010
Workshop: 1-5pm
Place: Science Gallery, Pearse Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Margaret will lead a workshop working with the Irish Reefers as they begin to assemble the Irish Reef for showing at the Reef exhibition in the Science Gallery, opening in March 2010. Irish Reef co-ordinator Irene Lundgaard will assist.

2009 REEF WORKSHOP AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

Fukuoka City - Kyushu University
Date: Sunday November 15, 2009
Seminar on Art and Craft and Ecological Sustainability
Co-hosted at Kyushu University by the Museum-Lab

Margaret will present a lecture on the Crochet Reef Project as a social-artistic response the degradation of coral reefs.

Museum-Lab is a Japanese NPO based in Fukuoka City and directed by Dr Maki Shimizu.

Fukuoka City, Japan - LAN Science Museum
Date: Saturday November 14, 2009
Lecture: 1pm
Workshop: 2-5pm
Place: LAN Science Center, Fukuoka City

Margaret will present a lecture and lead a workshop on hyperbolic crochet and coral reef devastation. Assisted by Maki Shimizu from Kyushu University.

Naha, Okinawa - Asian Art Museum
Date: Tuesday November 17, 2009
Lecture: 11am
Workshop: 12-2pm
Place: Asian Art Museum, Naha, Okinawa

Margaret will present a lecture and lead a workshop on hyperbolic crochet and coral reef devastation. Assisted by Maki Shimizu from Kyushu University.

Dublin, Ireland - Science Gallery, Trinity College
Date: Saturday October 24, 2009
Workshop: 1-5pm
Place: Science Gallery, Pearse Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Margaret will lead a workshop to begin the process of making an Irish Reef.

Sydney, Australia - Powerhouse Museum
Date: Saturday June 13, 2009
Workshop: 3-5 pm
Place: The Powerhouse Museum, Ultimo, Sydney

Christine will present a crochet reef workshop at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. The workshop is to assist with the construction of the Sydney Reef, which will be exhibited at the Powerhouse during Australian Science Week in August. The Sydney Reef is being spearheaded by the art collective In Stitches.

Santa Monica, CA - Track 16 Gallery
Date: Saturday Jan 17, 2009
Workshop: 2-4pm
Place: Track 16 Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave, Bldg C-1, Santa Monica, CA 90404

In conjunction with the Crochet Reef exhibition at Track 16 Gallery, Margaret and Christine will lead a workshop in crocheting plastic bags. The Wertheims will discuss the plastic component of the Reef Project and their own midden of plastic trash that occupies one corner of the Track 16 exhibition.

2008 REEF WORKSHOP AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Scottsdale Civic Center

Date: Saturday December 13, 2008
Workshop: 11am-1pm
Followed by Lecture: 2pm
Place: Scottsdale Civic Center Library

Date: Sunday December 14, 2008
Workshop: 12-2pm
Place: Cattle Track Arts Compound

This weekend, Margaret will present a lecture on the Crochet Reef Project and host two crochet workshops (on both Saturday and Sunday) to begin the process of making an Arizona Reef. The Arizona Reef will be exhibited in conjunction with the full Crochet Reef at the Scottsdale Cultural Center in 2009.

WASHINGTON DC - Smithsonian
Date: Sunday December 7, 2008
Lecture: 1 - 2:15pm
Place: Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium

Workshop: 2:30-5pm
Place: Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, Cathy Kerby Room

In the Smithsonian's newly opened museum of the sea, the Sant Ocean Hall, Margaret will present a talk on the Crochet Reef Project in conjunction with Smithonian coral reef scientist Dr Nancy Knowlton. Following the talk, will be a workshop to begin the process of making a DC Reef.

LOS ANGELES, LACMA
Date: Saturday November 15, 2008
Workshop #1: 12 noon - 3pm
Workshop #2: 3:30pm-6:30pm
Place: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles)

In these workshops Margaret and Christine will focus on techniques for crocheting plastic, particularly plastic shopping bags. The goal here is to make models that can be incorporated in the IFF's giant trash-based Toxic Reef. The Toxic Reef, along with the rest of the Crochet Reef, will be exhibited at Track 16 gallery in Santa Monica in early 2009. Models created in this event will be included in the show. The event is part of the all-day cycle of LACMA activities organized by Machine Project.

LONDON, Southbank Center
Date: Friday June 13, 2008
Symposium: 10am - 3pm
Place: Southbank Center
(Front Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall)
Belvedere Road, London SE1-8XX

LONDON, Southbank Center
Dates: Saturday March 15 and Sunday March 16, 2008
Workshop: 2-5pm
Place: Southbank Center - Spirit Level
Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX, UK

On both days Margaret will lead a workshop in conjunction with the creation of the UK Reef.

NEW YORK, Manhattan - Knitty City
Date: Saturday March 8, 2008
Workshop: 12-4pm
Place: Knitty City (yarn store)
208 W. 79th Street, NYC (between Broadway and Amsterdam)

Barbara Van Elsen of the New York Crochet Guild will lead a workshop in conjunction with the creation of The New York Reef.
Knitty City is owned by world renouned crocheter Pearl Chin, whom we thank for hosting this event. For more info see www.knittycity.com

NEW YORK, Harlem
Date: Saturday March 1, 2008
Workshop: 11am-12:30pm
Place: George Bruce Branch Library
518 West 125th Street, Harlem NY

Margaret will lead a workshop for the Harlem Knitting Circle in conjunction with the creation of The New York Reef.

NEW YORK, Manhattan
Date: Saturday March 1, 2008
Lecture: 1-2:30, Workshop 3-6pm
Place: New York University
Barney Building, Einstein Auditorium, 34 Stuyvesant St (between 9th and 10th Ave)

Margaret will lead a workshop for the New York Institute for the Humanities in conjunction with the creation of The New York Reef.

NEW YORK, Manhattan
Date: Sunday March 2, 2008
Workshop: 12-4pm
Place: New York University
Barney Building, Einstein Auditorium, 34 Stuyvesant St (between 9th and 10th Ave)

Margaret will lead a workshop for the New York Institute for the Humanities in conjunction with the creation of The New York Reef.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA
Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Place: Chaffey College

Christine will lead a workshop in the class of Misty Burruel at Chaffey College, in conjunction with the Inlandia exhibition at the Wignall Gallery.

SAN FRANCISCO
Date: Thursday, February 14, 2008
Place: California College of the Arts

Christine will lead a workshop on hyperbolic crochet and plastic in the class of Ranu Mukhagee at CCA.

LOS ANGELES
Date: Saturday February 9, 2008
Plastic-Bag-Crochet Workshop: 12-3pm
Place: IFF Headquarters
5015 Almaden Drive, Los Angeles CA 90042

Margaret and Christine will lead a workshop on hyperbolic crochet and plastic.