Complex Networks: Connections, measurements, and social systems

May 20, 2014Byens Lys Copenhagen
Complex networks robins choice
Doors open: 19:00
Start programme: 20:00
Byens Lys
Fabriksområdet 99
Copenhagen

According to Carl Sagan, the beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together. In our cells, atoms compose a multitude of molecules such as proteins and DNA, which coexist in a complex, mutually dependent network. Similarly, our cells themselves exist in an interdependent network of organs and nerves, and our very consciousness is thought to arise from the complex network of billions of neurons, connected by trillions of synapses.

Ecosystems are complex networks of animals eating other organisms. Some form social networks of packs and flocks, and humans have refined social structures into an artform with clans, nations, political parties, subcultures and Twitter hashtags. Our computers are connected in a global network, providing access to much of our combined knowledge as a species, which can also be described as a complex network. Networks are everywhere.

Since the turn of the millenium, a new understanding of these networks has begun to take form, and a new field - a science of networks - has begun to emerge. Sune Lehmann will recount the story of modern network science, explain a few of the things we have learned, and connect the tale of networks to big data, computational social science, and his own research on social networks.

Later, complex networks of spirits, fruit juices and dry ice will be served at the bar while Kiloton and MOTORSAW combine deep electronic reverberations and instrumental dub with highly complex visual patterns.

Talk by

Sune Lehmann

Associate Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, at the Technical University of Denmark. His main research interests consist of studying complex network theory with applications to social systems.

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Music by

Kiloton+MOTORSAW

KilotonAbove the Arctic Circle in a rusty Sputnik, occasionally picking up radio signals from Earth.In a small apartment on the Northern shores of Denmark, electronica artist Kiloton works with distorted fractions of radio signals and static from all over the globe. Atmospherics resonate into the room from the little radio and mix with deep electronic reverberations from Kiloton's own sound systems. A sound with distinct references to the instrumental dub music of Jamaica - but in a more brisk setting where crackling sound fragments from the radio receiver creates an emotional expression that communicates without words.

MOTORSAW aka Sune PetersenSune is on a constant quest to improve his own custom made live visual instrument that allows intuitive improvisation. With his instruments Sune has performed live visuals at various venues and festivals. "International VJ and digital artist Sune Petersen unveils the secret of his approach to vjing and his 'visuals instruments.' While produced in vvvv, Sune's work tends to have more noise, more texture, more soul and more subtle control than most VJ sets you'll come across, whatever the software.”

Kiloton Motorsaw