About VSAC

VSAC - Visual Science of Art Conference

Barcelona 26-28th of August 2016

The study and production of Art has always fascinated both artists and scholars in equal measure throughout history. Nevertheless, in the 20th century there has been little encouragement for artists and scientists to meet and collaborate. Fortunately this state of affairs is currently changing as demonstrated by the number of publications, meetings and collaborations between both communities.  The Visual Science of Art Conference (VSAC) emerged in 2012 to accompany this shift, gathering together a community of researchers, scholars and artists with the aim of cooperating, discussing, and developing new multidisciplinary scientific perspectives.

From its beginnings VSAC was a satellite to its big sister ECVP (the European Conference on Visual Perception). The first VSAC was held in Alghero, the Catalan city of Sardinia, in 2012 and subsequent meetings were held at Belgrade (2014), Liverpool (2015) and now Barcelona.

We welcome you to the 2016 edition of the Visual Science of Art (VSAC) conference in Barcelona. VSAC is interested in all kinds of approaches (phenomenological, biological, computational, etc.) that explore the relationship between our visual perceptual mechanisms and the arts. We are also interested in new ideas to add to the experimental foundation of a Science of Art.

Catalonia in general and Barcelona in particular have a very rich culture with a strong identity. Barcelona's cultural strength is reflected in a range of different artistic expressions. Gaudi architecture is the most visible sign, but not the only one.

Note that VSAC will have a separate abstract submission from ECVP, but uses the same registration system (you will just select VSAC as one option in the form). The key dates, however, are the same. To register, please go to the registration page.

Venue

This year VSAC will take place at the CosmoCaixa (Science Museum) located in one of the smartest Barcelona neighbourhoods.  

Address: Carrer d'Isaac Newton, 26, 08022 Barcelona.
Metro: Line 7, Av. Tibidabo. Line 3, Vallcarca
Bus: Lines V15, 22, 58, 73, 75, 60 and 196. 
GPS: 41.412024, 2.133008
Click here to see the venue location on Google maps 
Download the Conference Venue (CosmoCaixa Science Museum) Booklet:  welcome.pdf
Download the Site Map:  Mapa general def.pdf

VSAC Content

• VSAC Poster instructions
• VSAC Programme (online) 
• VSAC Programme booklet (pdf).
• VSAC Talks (online)
• VSAC Posters (online)
• VSAC How to prepare your poster

 : We have also our own Facebook page, where you can post comments, like us and receive quick updates.

Coordinator: C. Alejandro Parraga (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Contact email: vsac2016@gmail.com

Invited Speaker

This year our invited speaker will be Prof. Anjan Chatterjee from the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dept. of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Special Events

• The Art & Perception Exhibition with works of art that challenge our perceptual and aesthetics ideas. This exhibition will be located in the Agora room of the main CosmoCaixa Venue from 12:30hs on Friday the 26th of August until 18:00hs on the 28th of August. Submissions are now CLOSED ( VSAC16_Art_Exhibition.pdf) ( VSAC16_Art Exhibition_Submission_Guidelines.pdf)

• The Illusions Night (co-organized with ECVP) which is now a traditional evening event that will take place on the 30th of August at the nearby ‘Poblenou Communication Campus of the UPF’. The idea is to mix illusions with science and art, including contributions from both the scientific and arts community. Submissions are now CLOSED. Please download the pamphlet to help promote this event ( ECVP16_Illusions_Night.pdf). ( ECVP16_Illusion's Night_Submission _Guidelines.pdf)

Attractions

IMPORTANT: VSAC assistants have FREE access to the Science Museum for the duration of the meeting (26th-28th of August)
There ia also a 50% discunt to visits to the Museum of Illusions (Everyday from 10:00 to 22:00 hs. Carrer del Pintor Fortuny, 17 – Barcelona)

Coordination with other relevant meetings

This year the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA) will celebrate its XXIV Conference from the 29th of August to the 1st of September 2016 in Vienna. Since VSAC2016 ends on the 27th of August, the is plenty of time to 'grab the two conferences' for the price of an extra flight. There is plenty of cheap flights available for the 28th of August to reach Vienna on time.