and a little inspiration for the day..
http://www.pri.org/arts-entertainment/arts/art-inspires-science1418.html
best wishes
Melinda
Melinda Rackham
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On 13/11/2009, at 8:30 PM, Lindsay Brown wrote:
> Hello George and Melinda
>
> I feel taking projects, ideas and opportunities to the streets is a
> very
> good statement, and I too believe that things are circular and
> interlinked so I am also sorry if I repeat myself!
>
> George I was wondering if you had heard of an organisation here in
> Scotland that I work for, Art In Hospital? They are a charitable
> organisation who employ graduate artists to facilitate a variation of
> projects in hospitals and care homes. The approach is not
> prescriptive,
> rather works with the interests and skills of both the artist and the
> participants. This type of project management allows for a feedback
> system that encourages a two-way exchange, so instead of an artist
> delivering art therapy as such, they facilitate a range of activities
> that allow for the development of new understandings of what the
> creative process can be. Some of these projects particularly on the
> East-coast are only short-term and in their infancy, but some of the
> longer term ones in the Glasgow area are very interesting indeed. They
> allow deep relationships to be built with the artists, patients and
> hospital staff and take place in such places as kidney dialysis and
> premature baby units, these types of departments playing out a daily
> existence on a life/death knife-edge. One such artist is Kirsty
> Stansfield, who has developed sound objects as part of her (now
> completed) PhD research and is currently working on 'scores',
> discursive
> and performative narrative based on the conversations that she has had
> with parents of little kids who are hanging onto life. I wrote an
> introductory paragraph to AIH here two years ago; there is also
> links to
> Kirsty's site here http://www.thenextlayer.org/node/71
>
> Getting back to the art/science issue, my own PhD research has spawned
> simply from a need to understand my own process within the greater
> scheme of research which, in the larger University (scientific) system
> has become commodified thus is only verifiable through specific
> methodological approaches. This has encouraged me to move me into the
> low-tech DIY (I refuse to be known as an amateur!) sector, and as
> stated
> before I find the notions of experimentation, residency and
> workshops of
> extreme interest as a methodological approach, and the implications
> that
> this may have for the presentation and curation of the final
> conclusion
> of my thesis. I should say here that my very broad interests are water
> and electromagnetism so I suppose I fall into the physics category,
> although I do prefer 'explorer' as it is more open ended! Details of
> recent work are here if any are interested
> http://www.shiftfestival.ch/en/shift-2009/program/exhibition/#brown
> http://vimeo.com/7198032
>
> However as an artist I am 'against method' in certain situations, and
> (as we all know) interesting discoveries can be lost when research
> becomes too prescriptive and methodologically restrained. Because of
> this I feel that I do fall between art and science, and this is
> allowing
> my other work experiences with local authority and curriculum
> education
> to come into play. At the end of September I co-organised Spectral
> Ecologies - Wavelength, which was a three-day exploration into
> acoustic
> and electromagnetic phenomena. The approach was artistic, as it was
> not
> bound by pre-conceived notions, theories or testing frameworks,
> therefore it encouraged a material and philosophical experimentation
> on
> a number of veins. As this was a pilot workshop it was only attended
> by
> artists, but was also advertised within the local hacking and student
> communities. http://ptechnic.org/ecologies/spectral/index.html
>
> The interesting thing for me also is the partnerships that allowed
> this
> to happen. This was held at Mills Observatory, one of the few public
> observatories in the UK. This is a scientific establishment that is
> under local authority control, which allows a variation of educational
> projects to happen with the support of the scientific and cultural
> steering committee. This for m
> e has been a relationship that I have
> built up over time, botTeam at Dundee Council, and as an artist who
> is interested in science.
> My first attempt at a solo curatorial project stemmed from a residency
> at the observatory
> http://lindsaybrown.wordpress.com/category/mills-observatory/
>
> but in the future I would like to plan a more ambitious curatorial
> project that utilises the experimental abilities of art to pick up the
> ideas that both science and culture have left behind, perhaps with the
> integration of a variety of sympathetic science/art partners further
> afield, instead of just Tayside. As regards curriculum education, some
> other things in the brain pipeline are sculptural objects that play
> with
> unseen phenomena that introduces kids to a layered educational
> experience such as electromagnetism, craft and spatial understanding,
> this of course has to also be fun. This also tweeks my own interests
> of
> the duality of purpose of the object, as givers of information in a
> very
> measured 'scientific' way, yet allows layers of meaning so that the
> object also has potential as an art object (please see link above for
> Electric Chair at Shift Festival). Two further examples of these are
> the
> Faraday Tent and the Whirly-gig Radio. These however have to wait a
> while as this depends on funding which also depend on my limited PhD
> time, although some schools are already interested.
> http://vimeo.com/902520
> http://lindsaybrown.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/radio-men/
>
> As a last thing, this book is written by a scientist 'Performative
> Science and Beyond: Involving the Process in Research' by Hans
> Diebner'.
> I was wondering given the information on my interests above, if anyone
> had read it and if it would be of use to me? Hans is also an ex-
> student
> of Otto Rossler, the author of Endophysics- world as interface, so
> that
> alone would suggest that I should read it. However as usual, the
> academic/art world is charging for knowledge transfer so before I
> spend
> £30 hard-earned AIH quid, it would be great to know if it would
> really be of interest to me. Does anyone have a synopsis as the one
> available online is quite general.
>
> With very best wishes from sunny Scotland
> Lindsay
>
>
>
>
> Lindsay Brown
> PhD Researcher in Art and Media
>
> DOJCA
> Visual Research Centre
> University of Dundee
>
> Mobile: (0044) 7845 955087
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> http://www.lindsaybrown.wordpress.com
>>>> Melinda Rackham <[log in to unmask]> 11/13/09 1:07 AM >>>
> hi George and list
>
> this is completely on topic for me as it pivots on what ones
> definition of scientific research is..
> I'm familiar with the work you've been doing individually and
> collaboratively over the years and i know that you works have fabulous
> user friendly interfaces, which give direct visual feedback to really
> engage diverse audiences, and i personally find your work a joy
> amongst a myriad of sometimes overly engineered shiny steel art
> science art works with lengthy explanations where the creators have
> gone too far to try to display scientific rigor.
>
> I know you have worked with other/alternate health practitioners, who
> come from a different more holistic approach to medical research and
> knowledge, like Feldenkris etc,. again, this sort of work is more
> underground and self initiated due to funding models, and 'national
> research priorities". science is such a highly regulated field,
> because its so powerful.. both dangerous and life threatening to the
> planet, and life enhancing and miraculous. Roger knows much more
> about this... the art arena looks like meandering river compared to
> the grided world of science. And again I'd echo other voices who look
> to the narrow perspectives of our education systems from kindergarten
> to post doctoral research - and perhaps id go back to Orons missive
> about whose interests art and science serves..
>
> Sorry to be circular.. but it is actually all connected.
>
> So i see the progress of these field of enquiry happening mostly
> either at policy level or the DIY model, as e
> ven tho we have all made
> great inroads and built many brearly adopters and quiet restrained
> by the institutions and legalities
> of our cultures. When I was in a former position we funded an
> Australian artist to work in an international lab to do genetic work
> which was not legal in Australia.. it was an issue which could have
> quiet serious ramifications for the organization and the the
> Australian sector as a whole, but the decision to take that risk was
> ratified at Board level. Steve Kurtz's collaborator geneticist Robert
> Ferrell Professor of Human Genetics used his University of
> Pittsburgh account with a biological supply company to order bio
> organisms for Kurtz's projects. He took that risk to supply CAE with
> material and his life was wrecked by it.. suffereing severe health
> problems from the stress of being labelled a bioterrorist and facing
> 20 years jail- he had two minor strokes and a major stroke which
> required months of rehabilitation through the trial.
>
> Even with working top down or bottom up we are culturally constrained
> in the 30 year cycle it takes to shift educational thinking and
> curricula.. however it is possible and it is happening - i'm a great
> fan of "glocalness." the holism which is appearing around the
> globe/.. the eat local movement, the organic and farming diversity
> movements, in the renewed craft movement, the slow movement, the sloth
> club, the free software movement - all part of a cultural shift which
> we will see change the face of society in our lifetime..
>
> and its pretty obvious that we need to change after that hughly costly
> lofty hight of modernism slumped, - its just that a it takes a little
> time to overcome the concept that the momentum of progress is
> unsustainable rather than unstoppable . the slump, the laying fallow,
> the fear and the futility of todays culturally norms are just cyclical
> -- and the renewal of interdisciplinary is a far wider-reaching
> issue than just in art~science curatorial practice - so take it to the
> streets and the people I say :)
>
> warm regards,
> Melinda
>
> Melinda Rackham (PhD)
> Emerging Artforms Curator
> Adjunct Professor of RMIT University
>
> a P.O. Box 1109
> North Adelaide
> South Australia 5006
>
> e [log in to unmask]
> m +61 410 596 592
> h +61 8 7127 5037
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/11/2009, at 11:19 PM, George Poonkhin Khut wrote:
>
>> Hi all
>>
>> I'm wondering if anyone on this list has any experiences they'd like
>> to
>> discuss concerning arts-science interactions OUTSIDE university and
>> art
>> gallery contexts? Sorry if this is off topic!
>>
>> I'm thinking here of science museum interactive exhibitions, but
>> equally
>> things like permaculture villages for school children, arts-health
>> programmes etc. - and interested in examples that incorporate art-
>> like foci
>> - requiring participants to articulate their subjective response,
>> map their
>> situation etc. imagine alternate scenarios, consequences etc.
>>
>> For the record - I'm a great fan of John Dewey, and the kind of
>> second-wave
>> Pragmatist Aesthetics currently being championed by Richard
>> Shusterman - the
>> work of art (the work that art does) as deeply embodied/situated -
>> both
>> physiologically and socio-politically.
>>
>> I presented my interactive art project The Heart Library at St.
>> Vincent's
>> Public Hospital, in Sydney, this year. It was a small pilot project
>> - my
>> first in a hospital. My aim with this show was to access new
>> audiences for
>> my work, and to explore what it could mean to present a body-focused
>> interactive artwork in a busy public hospital setting. To recover
>> some sense
>> of wonder, delight, intrigue and playfulness from an otherwise highly
>> problematic and/or painful experience for many of the people in this
>> building.
>>
>> The exhibition was promoted to hospital community as being open to
>> all:
>> patients, their families and friends, and all hospital staff. The
>> response
>> on the
> whole was good, but interestingly I had no participation> doctors. I
> suspect this has something to do with the headspace they
>> need to
>> be in. The existing art programme consists mostly of changing
>> exhibitions of
>> 2D works around the hospital corridors - and this programme is well
>> supported by all staff and visitors. A longer exhibition period (the
>> show
>> only lasted 12 days) may have led to eventual engagement from the
>> doctors
>> and specialists....
>>
>> In terms of a set of communities that I work to engage with - and
>> that I
>> situate my practice within - its always been important to me that
>> the work
>> remain open and accessible to people without a 'professional'
>> interest in
>> the arts (or design and science/technology for that matter. To this
>> end I
>> try to work with organisations that I know put a lot of work into
>> engaging
>> with a more general and or local community - beyond the highly
>> specialised
>> networks of the contemporary art scenes, and university research
>> centres -
>> though these networks are crucial to the survival of my practice!
>>
>> My main interest as an artist is in engaging with a more general
>> public (for
>> want of a better word) - my work doesn't depend on a high degree of
>> art-historical literacy, though this can add to the experience . I
>> see my
>> work as facilitating experiences of wonder, quiet contemplation and
>> playful
>> exploration around autonomic nervous system process - and our
>> experience of
>> our own bodies more generally - which hopefully extends to broader
>> speculations concerning our embodiment and the values and meanings
>> we assign
>> to this situation.
>>
>> To this end - I've been working with interview processes in my
>> exhibitions
>> where ever the situation permits - using interviews as a way of
>> consolidating the visitors experience - and embedding it within
>> their wider
>> set of life experience and models of the world. After their
>> interaction with
>> the biofeedback part of the work - I invite participants to create an
>> illustrated map of their experience -located inside and across a
>> simple
>> outline of a human body. The drawing helps participants gather their
>> impressions of the interaction - and in many instances - represents
>> the body
>> as a site imbued with subjectivity, life experiences and imagination.
>>
>> My priority so far has been on just having these conversations and
>> exhibiting the drawings that people make - along side the sensor-
>> based
>> component of the work, but I will be working on publishing selected
>> transcripts in 2010.
>>
>> Biosensing technologies and biofeedback interaction (and by default -
>> learning) are central to the work that I have been pursuing for the
>> past
>> seven years - and to this end I am regularly being asked which
>> scientists or
>> medical researchers I have been collaborating with. Truth is I've
>> had a hard
>> time getting any of these folks interested at all - the technology
>> for this
>> work has been around for a long time - and technically - there's not
>> much a
>> project like my own has to offer to the vast body of technical
>> research all
>> ready out there.
>>
>> What interests me is how I can collaborate with others to facilitate
>> a more
>> nuanced and engaged process of critical enquiry on the part of the
>> audiences I like to engage with. What IS critical enquiry in this
>> context?
>> Art practice considered here as as sub-set of semi-formal social
>> interactions that combine imagination, sensuality, play,
>> speculation, and
>> curiosity.
>>
>> In these exhibitions, I find it tremendously challenging to strike a
>> balance
>> between providing people with - on one hand - some understanding of
>> the
>> psychophysiological principals behind the interaction - without
>> oversimplifying the facts to the point of misinterpretation - and on
>> the
>> other - the risk that in describing things in too great a detail -
>> can
>> detract from a more sensual quality
> of engagement that I hold to be
>> fundamental to the power of the type of art that I want to be
>> making. When I
>> talk about sensual> reflecting and imaginatively extrapolating from
>> - a given aesthetic
>> situation, that describes you the participant and some aspect of
>> your being
>> in this world.
>>
>> This has led me to start thinking about how we can better
>> understand, value
>> and support very basic types of experimentation and skill/knowledge
>> acquisition that takes place at a very individual level - through
>> attention
>> to our body and its being in the world - learning to talk, ride a
>> bike,
>> dance, or re-learning these things after a stroke for example - and
>> to what
>> extent aesthetic experience might tap into these deeply sensual
>> forms of
>> growth and learning.
>>
>> I find this area so exciting, but at this point equally very hard to
>> talk
>> about!
>
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