OffLINE at CENTRAL BOOKING is proud to host its next panel discussion stimulated by our HaberSpace exhibition, Common Descent. On Friday, May 2 at 7 pm, Art and Evolution: A Work in Progress, will be moderated by Yasmin Tayag, who has both a scientific and literary background. She will be joined on the panel by two scientists, the evolutionary and developmental biologist Giacomo Mancini and the evolutionary geneticist Brent Wells, as well as two artists featured in Common Descent, C Bangs and Lynn Sures.

The idea of evolution is ubiquitous in our society: we constantly talk about the evolution of ideas, of language, and, of course, of species. From a scientific point of view, however, the mechanisms behind evolution and the ideas behind evolutionary theory are often misunderstood. In the panel discussion Art and Evolution: a Work in Progress, we invite panelists and audience members to join a conversation about the scientific basis for evolution and how art can help elucidate some common misconceptions. Perhaps it will inspire us to push the limits of evolutionary theory as we know it.

Yasmin Tayag is the copy editor at Nature Chemical Biology, The Last Magazine and U+ Mag. She holds an M.Sc. in Biology from New York University and an H.B.Sc. in English Literature from the University of Toronto. She also occasionally writes and hosts videos for the Scientific American series Instant Egghead and writes a blog covering everyday science in New York at scienceinthecitynyc.com.

Giacomo Mancini is currently pursuing a PhD in Evolutionary and Developmental Biology at New York University. He received his BS in Biochemistry and Analytical Chemistry from Rutgers University. His thesis work focuses on changes in the brains of ants that undergo a transition from a non-reproductive worker to a reproductive queen-like caste. In addition to being a lab rat, he enjoys playing the drums and performing woodwork.

Brent Wells is an evolutionary geneticist at New York University studying principles that guide evolution to achieve similar developmental paradigms in geographically and temporally disparate species; the idea that certain modes of development are more desirable for life than others and that evolution is able to improvise in order to find those sweet spots. Outside of the lab, Brent maintains a science blog at scienceunderthescope.com and enjoys cooking and making a little art of his own in the way of furniture.

C Bangs’ art investigates frontier science combined with symbolist figuration from an ecological feminist point of view. Her art has been included in eight books and two peer-reviewed journal articles, several magazine articles and art catalogs. Merging art and science, she worked for three summers as a NASA Faculty Fellow; under a NASA grant, she investigated holographic interstellar probe message plaques She wrote Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth with Greg Matloff and NASA colleague Les Johnson.

Lynn Sures is a multi-disciplinary artist working in drawing, printmaking, papermaking, ceramic sculpture, encaustic painting, artist’s books and forged steel. Recent book exhibitions include This Really Is My Thing in St. Paul, Minnesota and De La Tierra at UNAM in Mexico City. Sures is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Fine Arts at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, Washington, DC.