A World Without Words : 2014 - 2015

Curated by Lotje Sodderland, Thomas Duggan and I at Apiary Studios, Somerset House, The Hardy Tree Gallery and The Frontline Club.

AWWW was a project bringing together the most dynamic genre pioneers in neuroscience and sensory aesthetics, exploring the nature of human language through a collaborative program of exhibitions, interactive events, and screenings in bespoke venues across London, visiting Somerset House, the Frontline Club, Apiary Studios and the Hardy Tree Gallery. a World without Words has commissioned over 30 speakers from a multitude of fields to each share their expertise on the potentialities of human language, the human brain and the emerging field of neuroaesthetics.

The project is a truly engaging and challenging curatorial venture for me, to explore not only topics beyond my immediate expertise, and to learn in doing so, but also to innovate and grow into my understanding of how to work with experts in different fields, from scientists, doctors, academics to artists of all backgrounds, and how best to help them share their knowledge

a World without Words is also a collaborative project, being co-curated by writer and filmmaker Lotje Sodderland and artist and material engineer Thomas Duggan, friends and extraordinary artists both.

a World without Words V - Apiary Studios: January Saturday 2016

The last event of the first (and I hope not last) year of a World without Words, which has been curated by Lotje Sodderland, Thomas Duggan and myself. We returned to Apiary Studios, where we began, and hosted artists Sarah Kelly, Christian Patracchini, who both offered powerful, intimate performances, alongside neuroscientist Daniel Margulies, curator and art historian Elena Agudio, and therapist Gillian Bridge. Once again we were fortunate to have a great turnout and feel gratified that our open, eclectic, immersive curatorial approach, to let discussion and performance sit by side by side, to allow technical information blend with avant garde art, seemed to effect people in the best possible way.

This video features the entire event.

a World without Words IV - The Frontline Club November 13th 2015

For A World Without Words IV, a sold-out audience at the iconoclastic Frontline Club watched a selection of short documentaries by celebrated ethnographic filmmakerVincent Moon, screened after an extraordinary talk by the director of London’s Institute of Philosophy, Dr. Barry Smith. 

Dr. Smith explored the neural correlates of meaning, music, and language, and after the screenings, offered further context of these ideas in relationships to the films of Vincent Moon, to offer an explanation of the role of language in subjective mental life. 

From Sufi rituals in Chechnya, to ancient folk songs in Columbian’s pacific rainforest; from an Eastern Orthodox family portrait in Tbilisi, to shamanic healing songs in Peru, through Moon's films, we experienced how the brain ascribes meaning to music and sound - even when words are obsolete.  A life-affirming and energising night in London.

A really resonant and powerful evening at the Frontline Club. The highlight of what has been a wonderful journey so far, curating www.aworldwithoutwords.com with Lotje Sodderland and Thomas Duggan. During this night It became clear to me what this project was really about, there was a sense of clarity and the brilliant Professor Barry Smith and I both came across it in our discussions before the event. It is about will. A will to life, an affirmation of the continency of language, on life, and how Lotje represents to me, in the most deferent, humble, inciteful and beautiful manner, a pure engagement with being alive. And so through her presence, the lynchpin of the project, so my work, the films of Vincent Moon and insightful thoughts Barry himself shared, to a sold out room of over 100 people, became about that - a celebration or affirmation of life and language. An amazing chance for me to be associated with an institution I have been going for many many years too. Such a privilege, a very special and dear evening to me. http://www.stevenjfowler.com/blog/2015/11/28/a-note-on-the-frontline-club-a-world-without-words-iv-november-13th-2015

a World without Words III - at Somerset House : September 30th 2015

Somerset House, Screening Room, South Wing, Strand. 

An extraordinary event at Somerset House to a full house, this third instalment of the program saw talks from philosopher Jamie Brassett, who discussed the emergent properties of consciousness, elaborating on philosophical and physiological interactions and The Cyborg. This was followed by computer scientist Conrad Wolfram who spoke about computer human-machine interaction in the age of mass data, and the need for linguistic evolution to enable verbalization of technical ideas. Finally, biologist Rupert Sheldrake closed the evening’s talks with an exploration of his work on Morphic Resonance. He spoke about the dominance of scientific materialism, citing what he believes is the interconnected intelligence of all matter. 

World without Words III at Somerset House - September 30th

For A World Without Words 3, a short segment from multiple-award winning documentary My Beautiful Broken Brain will be followed by talks from a highly accomplished selection of speakers. The first speaker will be philosopher Jamie Brassett who will discuss the emergent properties of consciousness, elaborating on philosophical and physiological interactions. Next up, computer scientist Conrad Wolfram will speak about computer human-machine interaction in the age of mass data, and the need for linguistic evolution to enable verbalization of technical ideas.  Finally, biologist Rupert Sheldrake will close the evening’s talks with an exploration of his work on Morphic Resonance. He will speak about the dominance of scientific materialism, citing what he believes is the interconnected intelligence of all matter. http://www.stevenjfowler.com/blog/2015/9/3/a-world-without-words-at-somerset-house

a World without Words II at Mahu: Hardy Tree Gallery - June 17th 2015

Always a beautiful thing to be around people like Lotje Sodderland, Harry Man and Malinda McPherson, such is their intelligence and generosity of spirit. We presented our second www.aworldwithoutwordsevent.com in the Hardy Tree Gallery, during my exhibition, Mahu. Everyone followed on from the themes of the premiere event, and I had the chance to speak about my experiences in martial arts and my research on CTE and brain damage. Lotje and I has a structured chat too. A fine time was had by all.

a lovely report on the 1st a World without Words event on Bold ideas June 8, 2015

http://1984boldideas.com/a-world-without-words-radical-exploration-neuroesthetics/ Thanks to Dan Davies & Catalina Bolozan

"A World Without Words, an ambitious new project by three, London-based experimenters: writer and filmmakerLotje Sodderland, in collaboration with poet and curator SJ Fowler, and Thomas Duggan, an artist and material engineer, invites us to explore human language in staggering and intimate depth. Language theory walks hand-in-hand with neuroscience and sensory aesthetics to investigate how our brains map meaning. With such an incredibly broad scope you might be forgiven for wondering how anyone would go about tackling such a vast and complex subject matter, and perhaps question their motivation. In this case, the answer is disarmingly personal. With the World Without Words programme unfurling over the coming months, certainly into November 2015, there will be plenty of time to engage with and enjoy this truly multifaceted project."

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a World without Words I at Apiary Studios - May 6th 2015

The premiere event of a World without Words was an extraordinary night, well over one hundred people crammed into Apiary Studios in Hackney to watch six presentations from neuroscientists and artists from around the world. What really emerged from a night of big ideas and great personal passion, was how much the unique format we had aimed to provide appealed to both the speakers and the audience. The presentations were not centred about the sharing of knowledge, but of personal passion, and experience, and how the former came through the latter. The event was not one of provocation but curiosity. Lotje Sodderland, Noah Hutton, Ben Ehrlich, Harry Man, Malinda McPherson and Nick Ryan all found their journey into the human brain and our ability to wield language in different ways - through pain and illness, through study and discipline, through travel and creativity, yet they all shared an open, inviting, discursive evening where everyone left with more than they had a few hours before. It was also, what I had already known, a real joy to share the curating with Thomas Duggan and Lotje, we all seem to compliment each other and the process couldn't have been more gratifying. Four more events to come this year... www.aworldwithoutwords.com