Come see my Illuminated Research Poster!

Today’s poster session at ISMIR2016.

“Illuminated Research Poster (no. 1)” (c. 2016, London), Sturmen the Younger (b. 1975) Materials: watercolor, pen, graphite, gold, and silver on hot-pressed paper (185 gsm)

Sturmen the Younger conceptualizes his position paper with imagery borrowed from the 14th century illuminated manuscript, “The Cloister’s Apocalypse“. Simultaneously, Sturmen forces us to think how researchers of the 14th century might present their own research posters at a contemporaneous conference. Under the two scrolls at top, Sturmen depicts members of the MIReS Council (2012), which produced the written work seen on the stand, the “MIR Roadmap.” This work sets an agenda for future research in MIR, which includes 7 challenges specifically for evaluation. Sturmen identifies two of these challenges as linchpins (Meaningful Methods and Meaningful Tasks), and depicts them engraved on two stelae directly below the bookstand holding the Roadmap. Addressing these challenges entails several possible priorities. Sturmen depicts five major priorities in small frames that orbit a large centerpiece. These are (clockwise from top right): figure of merit, evaluation, statistics, cross-validation and data. The centerpiece takes prominence, and depicts the horse Clever Hans – a true horse that appeared to possess mathematical acumen – at the moment his “trick” is revealed. Blindfolded, he taps away regardless of the question he is posed. Sturmen adds insult to injury with the question written on the scroll: “x times x equals minus 1.” The correct answer is the purely imaginary number, which reiterates that Hans’ abilities are imaginary. Sturmen uses this centerpiece to argue that the main priority to address the linchpin evaluation challenges of the Roadmap is the implementation and establishment of a formal framework of the design of experiments that is compatible with the unique nature of MIR research.