The Hodges Effect: The Mysterious Agency of Space Grit & Tiny Scraps of Metal 

This event is over.

Date:Thursday October 7 2021

Time:19:00 - 20:15 (Irish Time)
(2PM EDT East coast U.S. Time)

Location:Online,

THE HODGES EFFECT: The Mysterious Agency of Space Grit & Tiny Scraps of Metal 

Launching a Campaign for an International Meteorite Awareness Day for Ann Hodges 

In recognition of WORLD SPACE WEEK ((October 4th-11th) an international team of artists and scientists consider and celebrate the significance of Ann Hodges and begin a campaign to lobby the U.N. for an International Meteorite Awareness Day for Ann Hodges. Billboards, free public art/science lectures, performances and letter-writing activism are all included throughout Ireland, the U.K., and the U.S. Local signs of Hodges Effect activity will be visible on October 4th, 2021, when a series of futuristic billboard artworks advertising “The Hodges Effect” will appear in locations around Cork City, Ireland.

A virtual panel discussion is scheduled at BCO and the National Sculpture Factory of Ireland for October 7th at 7PM (Dublin time) will include Valerie Byrne, Dr. Julia Cartwright, Jade Dellinger, Connie Hwang, Sean Miller, Dr. Niall Smith, and Dr. Sean Taylor.

THIS EVENT IS NOW COMPLETE BUT YOU CAN WATCH PLAYBACK BELOW FOR THE REMAINDER OF SPACE WEEK

THE HODGES EFFECT: (Sean Miller/ Sean Taylor 2021) can be described as an existential crisis of being that may occur after a sudden collision between a Homosapien subject and extra-terrestrial materials. The Hodges Effect is an emerging creative concept in the domain of Homosapien encounters and current responses to environmental change.  

 

On November 30, 1954, 34-year-old Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges (Alabama, USA), was struck by a meteorite while sleeping. The meteorite crashed through the roof of her home in Sylacauga, Alabama, bounced off a radio, and hit her on her hip. Despite being bruised and shaken by the incident, she survived and simultaneously became the first, and so far only, recorded human on Earth to be directly stuck by an extra-terrestrial object and live. For Ann Hodges, outer space suddenly became jarringly present – close enough to forcibly impact someone in the privacy of their own home. The Hodges event provides the backdrop to recognize the important role that meteorites and cosmic collisions in general have played in the evolution of our planet and ourselves. Just as one collision changed Ann Hodges world, countless collisions continue to shape our world.

 

The Hodges Effect is a project conceived by artists Sean Miller (U.S.) and Sean Taylor (Ireland) in collaboration with designer Connie Hwang (U.S.). The project is supported by the National Sculpture Factory of Ireland, Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, Ireland, University of Alabama, USA and the University of Florida, USA as part of the celebration of World Space Week (October 4th-11th).

 

For more information http://www.seanmillerstudio.net

 

The Panel

 

Valerie Byrne – Director, National Sculpture Factory, Cork


Valerie Byrne has worked in a range of arts organisations spanning the past 20 years. She has been the Director of National Sculpture Factory since 2018 and before that was Director of Cork Printmakers, one of Ireland’s leading Print Studios. Previously she has held positions such as Project Manager for visual arts projects, European Capital of Culture: Cork 2005. Valerie was the first appointed Arts Co-ordinator to St James’s Hospital, Dublin, where she established a comprehensive Arts Programme and prior to that Valerie was the Visual Arts Programmer for Triskel Arts Centre, Cork.

Dr. Julia Cartwright – Assistant Professor, Geology, University of Alabama

Julia Cartwright is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama. Cartwright is a planetary scientist who studies meteorites to better understand the formation and evolution of the Solar System. Her research approach is to use multiple techniques to characterize extra-terrestrial materials either in terms of composition or in terms of chronology. As part of her research she images sections of meteorites to different scales using high-resolution microscopy and petrography techniques, and studies selected clasts for targeted chronometric analysis.

Dr. Cartwright studied for her undergraduate and graduate degrees in the UK at Oxford and Manchester, respectively. For her Postdoctoral positions she first moved to Germany, joining the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, before moving to the USA to perform research at Caltech and then ASU. She joined the faculty at UA in 2017.

Sean Taylor – Limerick School of Art & Design.

Awarded an MA in Fine Art from the University of Ulster in Belfast in 1983. Completed a Deep Listening Certificate Programme, with American contemporary music composer Pauline Oliveros at the Deep Listening Institute, Kingston, New York, USA, 2013. Completed a PhD at Limerick Institute of Technology, School of Art and Design in 2019.

Sean has exhibited extensively internationally and his work is available in both private and public collections throughout Europe, Mexico, Asia and the USA. Established the Art & Science collaboration Softday with software engineer Mikael Fernstrom in 1999, www.softday.ie

He is currently Programme Joint-Leader MA in Social Practice and the Creative Environment at Limerick School of Art & Design.

Jade Dellinger – Gallery Director, Bob Raushchenberg Gallery, Florida Southwestern State College

Jade Dellinger has served more than eight years now as Director of Exhibitions & Collections at Florida SouthWestern State College, and is known best for his exhibition program and related events at FSW’s Bob Rauschenberg Gallery.  Jade collaborated on curatorial projects with major museums in the U.S., Europe, Mexico and South America for more than two decades prior to his arrival in Southwest Florida.  Beginning his career with the Contemporary Art Museum at U.S.F./Tampa, he curated Keith Edmier’s EK/KE project (a collaborative exhibition with legendary motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel) in 1997. Dellinger has organized major solo and two-person museum shows for such artists as Yoko Ono, Ann Hamilton, Arturo Vega, Wayne White, Allan McCollum, Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring and Jack Kerouac.  He has written for international publications including Sculpture, Flash Art, Art Papers, and co-authored the book Are We Not Men? We are DEVO! (SAF Publishing Ltd., UK 2003/2008), which traces the history of the seminal 1980s New Wave band and 2021 Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame nominees. Jade Dellinger is an owner of one of the limited edition models of the Moon Museum created by Forrest “Frosy Myers. A museum that now exists on the moon and features artwork by John ChamberlainForrest MyersDavid NovrosClaes OldenburgRobert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol.

Connie Hwang – Professor, Design, San José State University

Connie Hwang  is principal of Connie Hwang Design in San Francisco, California. In her work, she places great value and sensibility in her pursuit of creative excellence. With an eye for craftsmanship and the desire to reinvent, she takes a practical yet intuitive approach to design based on vision and diligence. Her studio specializes in museums, galleries, cultural sectors and restaurants, and has received numerous awards, including american alliance of museums publications, communication arts, creativity annual, graphis, graphic design usa, how, print, and step design 100. Hwang is a proffessor at San Jose State University

Dr Niall Smith – Munster Technological University’s Blackrock Castle Observatory

Niall studied astrophysics at University College Dublin and graduated with his PhD in 1990. He lectured in the Department of Applied Physics & Instrumentation in Cork Institute of Technology for 18 years before becoming the Institute’s first Head of Research in 2005. Niall is the Founder-Director of the internationally award-winning Blackrock Castle Observatory which has just celebrated its 13th anniversary and over 1.2 million visitors. In 2017, Niall was the host Director for the International Space University Space Studies Programme which is the largest conference programme ever to come to Cork, lasting a total of 9 weeks and involving over 320 global space experts. Niall’s research focuses on space topics including ultra high precision photometry and the uses of small satellites in low earth orbit for a wide range of functions from high resolution imaging to space cybersecurity to rural broadband. He was the Higher Education representative on the National Steering Group for the Irish Government’s recently published Space Strategy for Enterprise and considers Space 4.0 to be a significant opportunity for the Irish business community.

Sean Miller – Associate Professor, Sculpture, University of Florida

Sean Owen Miller merges the roles of artist, curator, and collector. His work employs collaborative practices, collective approaches, and experimental exhibition formats. Miller’s projects have been exhibited internationally in museums and art centers. His works respond to ontology, materiality, politics, ecology, and institutional critique. Miller encourages individual engagement and activism toward building community and way to consider the natural world. His practice seeks to raise awareness, empathy, and wellness in the individual and the environment. The concept of the Wunderkammer or cabinet of wonder is an organizing principle for many of his projects.

His awards, and residencies include: National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Award (Co-PI), Emily Harvey Foundation Venice Residency 2022, Creative Campus Catalyst Fund (UF), Flax Arts Studios (U.K.), and Nelimarkka Museum (Finland) Residency.  Miller’s  work has received coverage in: Art Papers, CBS, New York Times, The Nation, New Art Examiner, Sculpture Magazine, Baltimore Sun,  LA Weekly, Modern Art Notes, Seattle Times, Miami New Times, USA Today, ArtStar, Dish Network (2008), NVTV, Northern Visions Media Centre, April 21, 2008. “How to Start Your Own Country” (2009) Documentary by Jodi Shapiro. Sean Miller is Co-Founder of SOIL artist-run space/collective (Seattle), Founder/Director of John Erickson Museum of Art (JEMA), a location-variable museum, and  Co-Founder of Crude Life Portable Biodiversity Museum (with Brandon Ballengee). Miller is an Associate Professor with the School of Art and Art History at University of Florida.

seanmillerstudio.net

 

To add your name to the petition Uplift petition for the Ann Hodges International Meteorite Awareness Day, simply visit the following link.