Parvana @ IDEA Space

The Persian term parvana is frequently translated as “butterfly,” but in Indo-Persian-Arabic poetic usage, it almost always refers to the obsessed lover; literally, the moth, parvana attracted to the flame shama. Using the dual translation of parvana as a springboard, this project explores the multiple aesthetic, scientific, and literary understandings of moths and butterflies. The IDEA Space exhibition will feature works by Joseph Scheer, Rebecca DiDominico, and John Kalyminios. Blurring the boundaries between art and science, Joseph Scheer uses a high-resolution digital scanner designed for scientific research to enlarge moth specimens many times their orginal size. The resulting large-format prints transform the microscopic into the macroscopic, revealing with breathtaking detail the extraordinary complexity and beauty of an often-maligned insect. In contrast to Scheer’s revelatory analytical approach to moths, DiDominico’s artworks made from butterfly wings encased in mica capture the evanescence typically associated with the butterfly, and Kalyminios’ mechanized butterfly specimens challenge the boundaries between nature and the industrial world. The exhibition and related performances, lectures, and interactive events examine the intersections between scientific and artistic modes of investigation and questions how, by engaging multiple ways of knowing, the arts can influence understandings of the natural world.

Thursday, October 6, 4:00 – 6:30 pm, IDEA Space Parvana Opening Reception, free

• 4:00 – 5:00 IDEA Cabaret: Nabakov’s Butterflies with Alex Vargo, emeritus Professor of Biology and Corinne Scheiner, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature. IDEA Cabaret is an ongoing event in which CC faculty, visiting artists and scholars, and CC students from all disciplines and perspectives participate in an open discussion that uses the current IDEA Space exhibition as inspiration. No jargon, just great ideas!
• 5:00 – 6:00 IDEA Cabaret: The Lepidopterans featuring a panel discussion with visual artists Joseph Scheer and Rebecca DiDominico, entomologist Alex Vargo, and performing artists Eiko & Koma.

Location:

Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center
825 N. Cascade Avenue,
Colorado Springs, CO 80903