Scholars@Hallwalls features Amy Graves Monroe Friday April 13
RLL Associate Professor of French and UB Humanities Institute Fellowship recipient Amy Graves Monroe will speak at the Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center on April 13, 2018.
Her presentation, "Ex machina: The Tragedy in the Machine," argues for a deep connection between the rise of Pascalian probability, the interest in automata, the use of theater machines, and Aristotelian ideas of dramatic verisimilitude (i.e., likelihood) and catastrophe. As an interpretation of Aristotle, the Classical unities of time, place and action seek to formalize the circumstances of a happening on the stage. Drama becomes a forum for performing cause and effect, probing probability, exploring plausible outcomes, and wondering about the nature fate, chance, and necessity. The early modern play is a meditation on what constitutes an event.
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center is located at 341 Delaware Ave, Buffalo NY 14202. The presentation will begin at 4pm and is free and open to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.