Poetical Science Event: Activating Poetical Science: Mysticism, Tech & Future Poesis

About

Sunday 3 May 2026 | 10am - 4pm
Nottingham Contemporary
Free event, Give what you can

This event functions as a micro-residency and the opening activation of a curatorial research project grounded in Ada Lovelace's integrated approach – a "Poetical Science". Ada Lovelace, daughter of poet Lord Byron and mathematician Annabella Byron, was a visionary thinker who combined mathematical training with imagination. Lovelace saw mathematics as "the language of unseen relations," and her writings outline what she called her "Scientific Trinity" of discovery: Concentration, Reason, and Intuition. For Lovelace, these capacities were inseparable, weaving the poetic, the metaphysical, and the scientific into one.

In the session, together we will explore alternative modes of knowing, making, and imagining beyond techno rational paradigms. This event draws on Livvy Penrose Punnett's research into Lovelace's idea of "Poetical Science" - a term used to describe an integrated mode of thinking were imagination and analysis work together. The workshop will feature an introduction from the co-curators Livvy Penrose Punnett (M4C & AHRC Researcher at Nottingham Trent University in collaboration with Nottingham Contemporary) and Katie Simpson (Senior Curator, Nottingham Contemporary) as well as guided sessions from the invited speakers: Dr Isobel Elstob, Clémentine Bedos, Emii Alrai and Emma Cocker (chair).