EMW's 

Drink Salon on Tech​ ​​​​​and Ethics

brings togeth​er a community and a supportive space to spark​​ ​challenging discussions on the role of technology in our ​everyday ​lives. Each month, we invite featured ​speakers to ​lead a conversation. ​We encourage salon ​guests to make new connections​ and to critically think about how technology relates to some of the most important questions we ask humanity.  

 

#EMWDrinkSalon

Scroll down for  speaker bios & a schedule for the night!

March's theme: PUBLIC ART

You're invited to an evening filled with some drinking and some thinking! Featured speakers Xiao Xiao, Gershon Dublon, and Kawandeep Virdee will present on topics addressing this month's theme of Public Art. 

 

RSVP is required for entrance. 21+ event. Bring I.D.

Seating is limited to 50 guests.  Suggested donation: $8 or pay what you can at door.

 

Featured Drinks:

Boozy: Rainbow Russian  (white russian with an array of DIY colorful simple syrups and toppings)

Non-Boozy: Rainbow Russian (white russian with an array of DIY colorful simple syrups and toppings)


Non-dairy options (both boozy and non-boozy) available.


Your donations at the door go directly to help cover the use of the space, drinks, and food that make Drink Salon possible!


Featured Presentations

Xiao Xiao

@xiaosquared  | Web site  | Vimeo


囧  (J I O N G) — presentation


Description (abridged): 囧 is a public art intervention and series of photographs I did in Beijing in March 2013. Used on the contemporary Chinese internet as an emoticon to express a range of emotions such as exasperation, embarrassment and awkwardness, 囧 was originally an archaic character that means "patterned window" or "brightness."


I decided to take 囧 from the internet to public space. I embedded the 囧 in the design of a traditional patterned window (a visual pun) and took it with me around Beijing for a week. I also made stickers of the same design in the tradition of cut-paper decorations (窗花) and put them up around the city.


http://portfolio.xiaosquared.com/jiong

Gershon Dublon

@gershonatron

Being There: Matter is Movement* — presentation

Description: What does it mean to be somewhere, and how has our notion of presence shifted as our tools for exploring the digital world have evolved? Using the human sensory homunculus as a point of departure, I explore the ways in which our technologies are constantly reshaping us, and propose some alternative futures premised on a simple physical principle---that matter is movement.

*not a metaphor

Kawandeep Virdee (community guest curator)

@whichlight

Growing Public Space with Interactive Art — presentation

Topics: Interactive and collaborative works can bring people together and make places more welcoming—both in digital and physical space. This collective medium has the power to cultivate a multitude of narratives to create personally meaningful experiences. 


Group Discussion & Workshop


What would you do with City Hall Plaza? — group activity

Community guest curator Kawan Virdee will facilitate a group discussion and workshop to generate ideas for how to transform the 200,000 square feet of open public space into a space that welcomes and engages our communities. You can read more about the jumping off point for discussion here: http://www.universalhub.com/2015/what-would-you-do-city-hall-plaza-and-no-just.


Drink Salon Team

Stine An

Salon Curator & Event Paladin

@gregorspamsa

development strategist at EMW

editor, researcher & comedian


Theresa Kim

Mistress of Ceremonies

@pixelr8r

project manager at a sustainability company

community arts organizer


Ellie Tiglao

om nom noms Mistress

@_dangerbelle

director of programs at EMW

chef and owner at Kulinarya


David Zhou

Bartender

@dvwz

computational neuroscience researcher at MGH co-creator of The Microaggressions Project

Featured Speaker & Artist Bios


  • Xiao Xiao

    is a PhD Student at the MIT Media Lab. Xiao Xiao's research examines how the way people experience music can inform the design of richer experience with digital information. Her work has been presented at academic conferences and featured on television programs internationally. She has spoken and performed on her project MirrorFugue at various venues around the world.

  • Gershon Dublon

    is an artist, engineer, and PhD student at the MIT Media Lab, where he develops new tools for exploring and understanding sensor data. In his research, he imagines distributed sensor networks forming a collective electronic nervous system that becomes prosthetic through new interfaces to sensory perception—visual, auditory, and tactile. These interfaces can be located both on the body and in the surrounding environment. Gershon received a MS from MIT and a BS in electrical engineering from Yale University. Before coming to MIT, he worked as a researcher at the Embedded Networks and Applications Lab at Yale, contributing to research in sensor fusion.

  • Kawandeep Virdee

    is making interactive / public / internet art to cultivate collective joy. Kawandeep is head of product at embedly, co-founder of New American Public Art, and a trustee at the Awesome Foundation. He has shown work in venues including MassArt, the Greenway, the Boston Convention Center, SFMOMA, Detroit Design Festival, Transmediale, the Media Lab, and EYEO/Northern Spark. His work has been covered in publications including the Atlantic, Science, Vice, NewScientist, Make, Core77, the New York Times, the Globe, the Guardian, Creator's Project, and Art Digital Magazine. Links: http://blog.whichlight.com/ | newamericanpublicart.com

Schedule

7:30pm

Doors open. Grab a drink, enjoy some snacks, bounce to some cool tunes ♫, and say hello to new friends!

8:00pm

Presentations begin! Refresh your cup, take a seat, and prepare to experience some cool talks and some thoughtful discussions with featured speakers and other guests.

9:30pm-ish

Presentations end, and the conversation continues! Stick around, listen to some electric tunes ♫, and hang with some cool people you already knew or just met.