Nebraska Public Media and community partners in Lincoln are hosting a free live performance event inspired by artist Leonardo da Vinci’s boundary-pushing curiosity about wind, birds and flying machines.
“Art & the Machine: A Live Radio Theater Event” begins at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23 at Sheldon Museum of Art at 12th and R Streets in Lincoln. Admission is free and the event is open to the public, but registration is requested at https://NebraskaPublicMedia.org/leonardo.
The evening will feature an original radio theater production co-created by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). They will use generative AI under the guidance of artists Ash Eliza Smith, Robert Twomey, and their team of artists, researchers and students from the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts at UNL. Smith is assistant professor of emerging media arts in the School of Art, Art History & Design.
“Art & the Machine: A Live Radio Theater Event” will also feature an excerpt from the recent PBS documentary “Leonardo da Vinci” that inspired the radio play, plus insights into a unique artistic process that merges human creativity with artificial intelligence. ASL interpretation will be available for the presentation, and all videos will be shown with open captions.
Live audio of the radio play will be available for streaming beginning at approximately 5:45 p.m. at https://radio-play.net/davinci.
The PBS film “Leonardo da Vinci,” directed and produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, profiles the 15th-century polymath who created some of history’s most revered works of art. Through his paintings and expansive writings, “Leonardo da Vinci” explores one of humankind’s most curious and innovative minds. The film is available for viewing at PBS.org and on the PBS app.
Sheldon Museum of Art is presenting the exhibition “Infinite Hopper: An Algorithmic Journey Through Light and Space” from Jan. 21-July 13. Using cutting-edge generative technology and creating a dialogue between the tradition and the contemporary, the exhibition explores how modern technology can reinterpret and honor fine art. “Infinite Hopper” was created by Dan “NovySan” Novy, assistant professor of emerging media arts in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.
Local partners for “Art & the Machine: A Live Radio Theater Event” include Nebraska Public Media, Sheldon Museum of Art, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI at UNL) and the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts at UNL. This is a Speculative Devices and Cohab Labs co-production.