Lighten Up! symposium: Encounters Between Art and Chronobiology

24.3.2023, 9 am – 5 pm, EPFL, Foyer SG

Within the framework of the exhibition Lighten Up! On Biology and Time, EPFL Pavilions presents a full-day symposium on Friday 24 March gathering all the participating artists together with chronobiologists and sleep experts. This event will provide novel insights into the installations and illuminating discussions across disciplines.

All life on earth has evolved within the solar framework of day and night. This ubiquitous environmental light-dark cycle has been internalised into molecular clocks that predict the appropriate time of day behaviour. Whether cyanobacteria floating in a pond, crabs following the tides, rodents burrowing in the day and emerging at night, sheep lambing in spring, birds migrating to the warm south – circadian, lunar, and seasonal rhythms impact physiology, reproduction, and survival. It is the same in humans. However, in our 24/7 society, the natural day-night cycle has been obscured by indoor living and working under artificial lighting, with long-term consequences for health and well-being. The tenets of chronobiology are explored by artists in multiple ways to light up our crucial dependence on daily cycles, and we invite everyone not to lose this innate connection to nature.

Speakers:

Bharath Ananthasubramaniam | Marilyne Andersen | Siegrun Appelt | Kirell Benzi | Alan Bogana | Christian Cajochen | James Carpenter | Rafael Gil Cordeiro | Colin Fournier | Ted Hunt | Sarah Kenderdine | Elizabeth Klerman | Liliane Lijn | Robin Meier Wiratunga | Susan Morris | Anne Noble | Anna Ridler | Till Roenneberg | Helga Schmid | Francesca Siclari

Information & programme

9 am — 5 pm, Free admission

Mandatory registration

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