On Reflection, Refraction and Diffraction

An informal get-together that crosses a reading group with a ’show and tell’ session – exploring different themes through a curated reading list and discussion of objects. The first session responds to themes of image, spectacle and technology within the Follow exhibition, though an engagement with phenomenas of light and vision, in particular the difference between reflection, refraction and diffraction. Objects to present may be a personal item or a homemade technology, that could include, for example any lens- or light-based media – a magic lantern or a crystal ball!

The project is a collaboration between current FACT PhD researchers Alex Pearl and Sam Skinner, and FACTLab residents Thiago Hersan and Radamés Ajna, as an opportunity to make different areas of research open and accessible, and to develop a community of readers, thinkers and thingers! that mixes theory and making.

Reading for the first session included texts by Donna Haraway, Karen Barad and Iris van der Tuin.

We also learned how to play Cat’s Cradle and discussed the exhibition currently on display at FACT — Follow — using the tools and terminology presented in the texts.