Track: STEM in Our Communities
Pictured Above: Catalyst Collective
Emergence is an immersive performance about the study of life on Earth and other planets. The show was developed by the artist group Catalyst Collective and their residency with the Emergence Laboratory at ASU. Emergence asks and explores the questions: What exactly is life? How do we look for it in the universe? And how do we all plan on living it? After the 20 minute performance, Phil Weaver-Stoesz, Creative Director of Catalyst, will discuss how Catalyst devised a performance with both artists and scientists, as well as virtues and methods of good STEAM collaborations.
Presenters:
- Phil Weaver-Stoesz: Creative Director of Catalyst Collective, MFA Candidate in Theatre Directing at Arizona State University
- Catalyst Collective Artist Group
Phil Weaver-Stoesz is the Creative Director of Catalyst Collective and is an MFA candidate in Theatre Direction at ASU. Phil works as a creator, crafting immersive theatrical experiences, designing alternate reality adventures, editing and reimagining Shakespearean works, and collaborating with playwrights on new play development. He was awarded the Creation Grant for his research in theatre and creative computing as well as the PAVE Arts Entrepreneurship Grant for starting Catalyst Collective.
He has taught classes on Shakespearean Text and Rhetoric at Notre Dame, Movement Technique for the Stage at Goshen College, Directing at Arizona State University, and Primary English in a small house on the Cambodian countryside. His next project explores sustainability systems and cultural narratives surrounding excess. Find Phil online at his website PhilWS.com or on twitter @Dear_Godot.
Catalyst Collective is a company of artists and performers that create events celebrating, exploring, and responding to current scientific research. Our work is built through our artist-in-residency program, which places artists in scientist spaces to learn about their work, host workshops, build community, and create new works of art inspired by, and created with, the scientists.