QUANTUM LEAP. Programme of activities in collaboration with CESGA

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The relationship between art and science is not always obvious and can sometimes be difficult to understand. Historically, however, they have led to changes in the working methodologies of both disciplines, encouraged the use of new tools and contributed to changing perspectives. Today, art and science are closer to each other than ever before.

With the aim of deepening these links, the CGAC and CESGA are collaborating in a project that will be developed in different phases throughout 2024 with a programme of activities in which the realms of art and science overlap and intertwine. Some of the activities in the programme, promoted by the Galicia Supercomputing Center (CESGA) and the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE), include the exhibition of a sculptural piece of choral authorship and quantum inspiration, commissioned by the CESGA to the artist Diego Vites, and a film cycle directed by Sofía Naseiro, from KinocubeCinema. The programme is complemented with a series of events on 14th April to celebrate World Quantum Day.

THE EYE AND THE MACHINE. FILM SERIES

5th-19th APRIL | 6.00 p.m.

The Eye and the Machine proposes a historical, aesthetic and scientific narrative journey through Western society in the 20th century through the concept of computation and its audiovisual representation.
The series will take place over five days, each focusing on an era: the machine age (1910-1920), the atomic age (1950-1960), the space age (1960-1970), the information age (1980-2000) and the quantum age (2010-2020), with the screening of one film per day.
This proposal is not the result of the regular division of a timeline into segments corresponding to the different periods, but a subjective classification that responds to the relationship between the progress of science, technology, art and aesthetics at each moment in time.
All the screenings will be preceded by a brief presentation and, at the end, there will be a colloquium, led by Sofía Naseiro, which will deal with the piece being shown, helping to put it into context.
 

PROGRAMME

5th April. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927). Original version with Spanish subtitles
11th April. Forbidden Planet (Fred M. Wilcox, 1956). Original version with Spanish subtitles
12th April. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968). Original version with Spanish subtitles
18th April. Tron (Steven Lisberger, 1982). Original version with Spanish subtitles
19th April. ¡Salta! (Olga Osorio, 2023). Original version in Spanish

WORLD QUANTUM DAY

14th APRIL | 11.00 a.m. - 12.00 p.m.

The celebration of World Quantum Day aims to promote global understanding of quantum science and technology worldwide. The chosen date is a reference to the number 4.14, the first rounded digits of Planck's constant: 4.135667696×10–5 eV s = 0.000 000 000 000 000 004 135667696 electron volts seconds, a product of energy and time which is the fundamental constant governing quantum physics.
 

PROGRAMME

11.00 a.m.
Presentation of the piece Salto cuántico (Quantum Leap, 2023), conceived by the artist Diego Vites in collaboration with the collective Nova Escultura Galega (NEG; Jorge Varela, Misha Bies Golas, Alejandra Pombo Su, Diego Vites) and Violeta. Participants: the artists, the director of CESGA, Lois Orosa Nogueira, and the director of CGAC, Santiago Olmo.
Salto cuántico is an interactive sculpture consisting of three mobile and interchangeable modules. The work, which will remain on display at the CGAC from April 2024 to February 2025, adopts the structure of the first computers of the nineteen-forties, contemporary totems on wheels that allow for constant updating, and functions as an open sculpture in quantum space.

12.00 m.
Quantum Computing: what is it, what is it for, where are we?, lecture by Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón
EDUARDO SÁENZ DE CABEZÓN (Logroño, 1972) holds degrees in Theology (1996) and Mathematics (2001), and a PhD in Mathematics (2008). At present, he is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of La Rioja.
Also known for his work as a science populariser, he is the author of the books Inteligencia matemática (Plataforma Editorial, 2016), El árbol de Emmy (Plataforma Editorial, 2019), Apocalipsis matemático (Penguin Random House, 2020) and Invitación al aprendizaje (Penguin Random House, 2023).
Since 2019 he has been presenting the programme Órbita Laika on RTVE's La 2. He is also the author and presenter of the podcasts Órbita Laika (RTVE Play) and Materia absurda (Sonora), and scriptwriter and presenter of Derivando, the YouTube channel dedicated to mathematics.
He was the winner of the FameLab science monologue competition in 2013 and represented Spain in the international final at the Cheltenham Science Festival (UK). In 2019, he received the Special Jury Prize for Science in Action.

LECTURE SERIES ART AND SCIENCE INTERTWINED

APRIL-OCTOBER
DIRECTOR: José Edelstein Glaubach
 

PROGRAMME

26 April | 6.00 p.m.
There Was Once the Universe, lecture by Javier Argüello
JAVIER ARGÜELLO (Santiago de Chile, 1972) is a writer of short stories, novels and essays. He has published the books Siete cuentos imposibles (Lumen, 2002), El mar de todos los muertos (Lumen, 2008), La música del mundo (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2011), A propósito de Majorana (Random House, 2015), Ser rojo (Random House, 2020) and Cuatro cuentos cuánticos (Random House, 2024), which have been translated into several languages and have received various awards. He teaches narrative and storytelling, gives lectures and seminars, and is a regular contributor to the El País newspaper.

22 June | 12.00 m.
Science and the Contemporary Condition, Armin Linke in conversation with Mónica Bello, director of the Arts at CERN programme and curator of the exhibition Instruments of Vision, and Carlos Salgado, director of the IGFAE
ARMIN LINKE (Milan, 1966) is a visual artist working with photography and film, setting up processes that question the medium, its technologies, narrative structures, and complicities within broader socio-political frameworks. Linke’s exhibitions create performative scripts in which diverse voices and methods converge, challenging the conventions of photographic practice.
Linke’s exhibition at the University Church, Instruments of Vision (21 June – 28 August 2024), explores the dynamics and culture of particle physics laboratories and research facilities across Europe, including CERN and IGFAE, among others.

27 June | 6.00 p.m.
The Metronome of Beethoven, lecture by Almudena Martín Castro
ALMUDENA MARTÍN CASTRO (Madrid, 1986) holds a degree in fine arts, a degree in physics, and advanced piano studies. She combines her work in digital design with an intense activity as a disseminator, for which she won the Tesla award for dissemination in 2017. Her first book, La lira desafinada de Pitágoras (Harper Collins, 2022), in which she tells how music inspired science to understand the world, was awarded the Prismas prize in 2023.

13 September | 6.00 p.m.
The Nature Of Space-Time. Lectures and round table by José Alberto Rubiño, Alicia Sintes, Alejandra Castro Anich and Gastón Giribet
Just over a century ago we came to understand that space and time form a fabric subject to the laws of the theory of relativity: space-time. The rhythm of the passage of time ceased to be an absolute. It has been determined that space-time curves because of the presence of planets, stars and galaxies, which in turn move following the resulting ripples. The 20th century has enabled us to understand in detail what those planets, stars and galaxies are made of. What matter is made of and, above all, what its laws are: those of quantum mechanics.
But the answers give rise to new questions. How was space-time born? What is its microscopic structure? How do the wrinkles extend? Can space-time, or a part of it, die? What is the nature of time? What is the oldest image of the cosmos? How can we interpret it? What are black holes? What happens inside them?
Many of these questions, key to the development of physics in the 21st century, are the focus of IGFAE research and that is why we want to share them with the general public. So, to talk to us about what we know and what we hope to learn in the coming years about all of these issues, we’ve invited four world-renowned scientists.
We’ll finish off the session with a round table where members of the public can ask any questions they may have.

JOSÉ ALBERTO RUBIÑO (Granada, 1975) is a cosmologist, lecturer and researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics). He’s the lead scientist of the QUIJOTE CMB experiment, principal researcher of the Tenerife Microwave Spectrometer and has been coordinator of one of the science groups of the Planck mission (European Space Agency). He’s written over three hundred scientific publications and the book El fondo cósmico de microondas: observando el origen del universo. In particular, he will talk about the oldest light in the universe and the clues it offers on the birth of space-time.

ALICIA SINTES (Mahón, Menorca, 1969) is a theoretical physicist, professor at the Universidad de las Islas Baleares and researcher at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO), whose discovery of gravitational waves led to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. She was named Honorary Citizen) of Sant Lluís in 2018 and has received many awards including the Ramon Llull Prize from the Government of the Balearic Islands. She has written more than four hundred scientific publications. She will talk about how much we can learn from the murmur caused by the displacement of wrinkles in space-time.

ALEJANDRA CASTRO ANICH (Santiago de Chile, 1982) is a theoretical physicist, lecturer and research scientist at the University of Cambridge. Her academic training started at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and, from 2004, she continued her studies at the universities of Michigan, McGill (Montreal, Canada), Harvard and Amsterdam. She has written more than sixty scientific articles. She will talk about the intimate nature of space-time: quantum gravity and holography.

GASTÓN GIRIBET (Buenos Aires, 1973) is a theoretical physicist, lecturer and researcher at the University of New York. He has also been Assistant Professor of Theoretical Physics (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Visiting Professor (Université Libre de Bruxelles), and Member of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton. He has written more than forty scientific publications and the books Cuerdas y supercuerdas: la naturaleza microscópica de las partículas y del espacio-tiempo and Heidegger en los márgenes de la ciencia. He will talk about the most enigmatic creatures of the cosmos—black holes, the last frontier of space-time.

11 October | 6.00 p.m.
Mapping Culture: Intertwining Sciences and Humanities, lecture by Gustavo Ariel Schwartz
GUSTAVO ARIEL SCHWARTZ (Buenos Aires, 1966) is a physicist and a writer. He’s a tenured scientist at the CSIC and carries out his research activity at the Materials Physics Centre of San Sebastián. He is also founder and director of the Mestizajes programme of the Donostia International Physics Centre. He is co-author, with Luisa Etxenike, of the play La entrevista. He also co-published the collective work #Nodos and published the photo book Creativium. He has published over seventy scientific articles and runs the blog Arte, literatura y ciencia.

UNIVERSE BETWEEN SONGS

28 JUNE | 7.30 p.m.

Universe between Songs is a show that merges art and science. More specifically, the show interweaves a set of narratives about the cosmos (its birth, the night sky, the stars that populate it, our place in the universe, etc.) with celebratory songs of its own.
This project arose from the need to imprint our own musical identity on topics of scientific outreach to give them a touch of colour with hues rooted in our history and culture. The cosmos of science is the same for anyone inhabiting the planet, but the way it is named, narrated and sung is unique to each culture. This show is our way of standing before the immensity of the sky.
The show was created five years ago and has been performed on stages in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Plata, Pergamino, Posadas, Rosario, San Juan, Traslasierra and Villa Carlos Paz. The songwriting has been funded by an Argentine National Arts Fund project.

JOSÉ EDELSTEIN (Buenos Aires, 1968) is a theoretical physicist, lecturer and scientific researcher at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. He is the author of three books for readers of all ages, popular science texts and several collaborations with artists, as well as a lecturer. In Universe between Songs, in addition to collaborating in some of the songwriting, he plays the role of narrator, telling stories about the science of the night sky. He has received the Prismas award on two occasions and his work has been recognised by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, among other institutions, in 2012, and by the Argentine government, who awarded him the Premio Raíces in 2018.

DANIELA DE RITO (Buenos Aires, 1978) is a singer and teacher. She has taken part in several tango groups and has acted on different stages of the city and province of Buenos Aires, as well as in Europe and Canada. She currently lives in Traslasierra (Córdoba, Argentina) where she works as a singing and music teacher. She is part of the project Universe between Songs, in which she participates as composer and interpreter.

LORENA EDELSTEIN (Buenos Aires, 1973) is a musician and teacher. As percussionist, she is participating currently in different projects that have been presented in different cultural spaces of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Viajera continental. She teaches percussion at the Programa de Orquestas Escuela of the Province of Buenos Aires. She is currently working on the production of her first album of songs, and forms part, as composer and interpreter, of the project Universe between Songs, focused on the collaboration between science and art.