Join us at Gallery UMA as we explore the exhibition “Mental Mapping” by artist Joshua Sariñana. Enjoy the artwork on display, plus a ‘behind the scenes” multimedia look at the artist’s process, live music, poetry and community discussion.

Reserve a seat for live music and discussion.

Blending portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes into multiple exposure prints, Sariñana’s work explores the relationships between artificial intelligence, the brain, and social networks. Central to this exploration are interviews with the portrait subjects whose narratives are analyzed using large language models and machine learning technologies to unearth connections within and between their experiences. The questions probe how individuals mentally navigate various life contexts, including their natural surroundings, social and digital ecosystems, and creative spaces.

Live music at the event will feature Chilean jazz violinist Brian Urra and Serbian pianist Pavle Zvekić. Brian and Pavle are highly esteemed classical and jazz musicians based in Boston. Both students of the Global Jazz Institute, they compose and perform music that fuses their cultural identity with modern experiences and connections through jazz. (see below for a more detailed bio).

Experience an arts salon at Urban Media Arts! More than a gallery reception, an arts salon is a deeper way to engage with an art exhibit. EVERYONE is invited and welcome, regardless of your background in exploring the arts. Due to space limitations, reservations are required for the music and discussion portion of the evening. Though the event is free, donations are encouraged.

This event is supported in part by a grant from the Malden Cultural Council, a local agency, funded through the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Schedule

6:00 – 7:00 – View artwork & behind-the-scenes media. Light refreshments served
6:30 – 7:10 – Live music by Brian Urra and Pavle Zvekić
7:00 – 7:45 – Gathering in the studio for community discussion & poetry readings
7:45 – 8:00 – Another chance to view artwork and talk informally with participants

About the Mental Mapping Project

Sariñana’s Mental Mapping work highlights the relationships between artificial intelligence, the brain, and social networks. Central to this exploration are interviews with participants whose narratives are analyzed using large language models and machine learning technologies to unearth connections within and between their experiences and photographs that reflect the individuals he has interviewed and various spaces in and around Malden. The questions probe how individuals mentally navigate various life contexts, including their natural surroundings, social and digital ecosystems, and creative spaces.

About the Artist

Joshua Sariñana, PhD, traces the underlying networks of the brain, and art, in a humanities context. He aims to consolidate and extend the traditional boundaries of these fields to a novel dynamic topology.

Sariñana obtained his degrees in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying dopamine’s effects on hippocampal circuit activity, reinforcement learning, and spatial navigation.

He uses network theory to navigate and conceptualize his transdisciplinary art, science, and socially engaged projects. Sariñana is currently a Cultural Ambassador for the Somerville Arts Council. In addition, he has received grants supporting his work from the Massachusetts Arts Council and the Cambridge Arts Council for his art and curatorial projects.

Sariñana photography emphasizes the transformation of internal representations and have been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Sariñana combines his media communications practice with his neuroscience and art background. He has provided his expertise to WIRED Magazine, MIT Technology Review, the Museum of Science, Boston, and as an invited speaker for the Neurohumanities series at Trinity College in Dublin. He is currently investigating the relationships between virtual spaces, artificial intelligence, and functional networks of the brain. Joshua Sariñana, PhD, traces the underlying networks of the brain, and art, in a humanities context. He aims to consolidate and extend the traditional boundaries of these fields to a novel dynamic topology.

www.joshuasarinana.com/

About the Musicians

Brian Urra is a Chilean violinist and composer. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Modern School of Music in Chile, and a double major in Jazz Composition and Performance at Berklee College of Music.

Brian’s musical journey has led him to perform at Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and receive the 2023 Ravinia Bridges Composition Prize.

brianfiddle.com

IG: @brianfiddle
https://linktr.ee/Brianfiddle

Pavle Zvekić is an classically trained, Serbian jazz pianist, composer. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston with a bachelor’s degree in music performance, and is now currently enrolled in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. In November of 2023 he released an album entitled Small Hours. He is also Managing Director of the Youth Jazz & Rock Festival in Serbia.
IG: @pavlezvekic
FB: https://www.facebook.com/zvekic.pavle
Voodoo Baby Aliens IG: https://www.instagram.com/voodoo.baby.aliens/

Further exploration

A roundtable discussion with two neuroscientists, a choreographer, designer/artist, and environment and community organizer exploring how we make sense of self in the context of our environment and the tools that enable or hinder our journey of understanding and remembering who we are and what we have experienced.

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A conversation that unravels Joshua’s path to the Mental Mapping project, beginning with the first inklings of curious wondering science, art, and community work.