Nerd Nite London - January

Nerd Nite London is a monthly event where three speakers give 18-21 minute fun-yet-informative talks across all disciplines, while the audience drinks along.

How to be creative

Artist Marc Smith takes a look at different theories that explain how we can encourage people to be creative. He’ll describe some of the triggers to creativity he’s used personally and as an art teacher, alongside theories of how to promote creative thinking in organisations and society as a whole.

Marc Smith is an Art Teacher & Artist who has spent almost 20 years teaching Art in London, Hong Kong and Beijing as well as running art history workshops for European Art tours. Marc’s own artwork explores play and automatic drawing.

Weird Science: A (Very Brief) Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology

Ever since records began, people across the world have reported unusual experiences which we would today label as “paranormal”. Opinion polls show that the majority of the general public accepts that paranormal phenomena do occur. Such widespread experience of and belief in the paranormal can only mean one of two things. Either the paranormal is real, in which case this should be accepted by the wider scientific community which currently rejects such claims; or else belief in and experience of ostensibly paranormal phenomena can be fully explained in terms of psychological factors. This presentation will provide an introduction to the sub-discipline of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, in an attempt to provide non-paranormal explanations in terms of known psychological and physical factors. This approach will be illustrated with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena.

Chris French is a regular nerd nite speaker, previously explaining to us the science behind Satanic messages in death metal records, ghost sightings, and séances. Chris is a professor of psychology and head of the anomalistic psychology research unit at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Dance and Digital Technology

What happens when you bring thermal cameras, 3D printing, and interactive LED technology to the world of dance? From 2015-16, Leila was the inaugural digital artist in residence at the UK’s leading contemporary dance company, Rambert. While there she interviewed, worked and played with some of the world’s best dancers. In this presentation Leila will talk about her experience during the residency, and the current imbalance in the dance-digital relationship. Is it already too late to change the way dance and technology interact?

Leila Johnston is a technology artist, journalist and comedy writer who has authored three humour books, contributed to the magazines including WIRED UK, Creative Review and the New Scientist, and completed a number of residencies. From 2013-2016 she ran Hack Circus, a creative collective producing a magazine and immersive live show exploring speculative and important ideas across the arts and sciences.