The Origin of Image Making: Behavioral Ecology of Cephalopods and Art - Roundtable Discussion March 24, 2011

Why do we make images, where do they come from and what is their primary function? Human image production and image distribution systems have made rapid growth to the level of unimaginable saturation in urban contemporary life through design, architecture, city planning, Internet, fine arts, and other media. The Origin of Image Making: Behavioral Ecology of Cephalopods and Art brings together scienctific, humanistic and artistic attempts to investigate these ever critical existential questions by examining the cognitive and interpretive systems of the adoptive coloration of cuttlefish as a model to code and to re-map visual information suchas paintings, photographs and video.

Organized by Ryuta Nakajima, professor of Art and Design at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Special guests include:

Jesse Purdy (Psychology, Southwestern University) is a founding member of the Comparative Cognition Society and has recently conducted research on the behavior of wild and captive bred mulloway and how they learn to avoid predation.

Bernd Budelmann's (Neuroscience & Cell Biology and Otolaryngology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston) research interests focus on cephalopod equilibrium receptor systems, their relevant brain structures, the oculomotor system, and all other sensory and motor systems that are involved in equilibrium orientation.

Yuzuru Ikeda (Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukus) is a member of the Species Diversity Research Group where he focuses on the development of breeding technology of Cephalopoda and the study of their natural history.

Shuichi Shigeno (Postdoctoral researcher, Biological Sciences, University of Chicago) works with Cliff Ragsdale on the development of the brain and the nervous system of cephalopods.

Official Website: http://www.ias.umn.edu/thursdayscals11.php